Invincible Warriors
by Anthony Gritchin
Summary: When Ares threatens to destroy the city of Athens, Athena decides to send Kratos on a mission to stop him once and for all...but not alone. With the aide of another God, she pulls a certain red-haired Huntress from one war and into another. Story complete/ series under new author.
1. Prologue 1

**Author's Note:** **So this crossover takes place AFTER the events of "Ascension" and "Chains of Olympus", the dialogue between the three Gods at the beginning is actually in the original manual of the PS2 version of the game, and so I decided to work from there. As mentioned in the summary, this story will include other Gods and references to other heroes that weren't in the original series. Here's the first part of the prologue to this story, hope you enjoy it!** **  
** **Also, I do not own God of War or RWBY: the God of War series belongs to Santa Monica Studios and RWBY belongs to RoosterTeeth.**

Olympus: the home of the Greek Gods and residence of the Pantheon. On this day, Zeus has called two of his children (Ares the God of War and Athena the Goddess of Wisdom) to discuss the loyalty of their champion: the mortal who had come to be known as the "Ghost of Sparta", Kratos. Ten years have passed since he had slain the Furies: thus breaking his bond with Ares, and dedicating himself to the other gods of Olympus in order to rid his mind of the nightmares that have haunted him since.

" ** _I have gathered you here on this holiest of grounds to discuss the fate of a mortal whose actions I sense could have grave implications to all of us here on Mount Olympus._** "

" _My lord, my father, it is Kratos of whom you speak. I have been his patron goddess these last 10 years as he has fought to stave off madness and earn our forgiveness._ "

 **"The man is a fool. He turned his back on a gift so-"**

" ** _Enough, Ares! I know what he has done. And, might I add, I know why he did it. You should be ashamed._** "

" _Ares' actions were brutal, as always, My Lord. My oracles warn me that even now Ares is marshalling his forces to attack and destroy my fair city._ "

" **Athens, so called city of art, city of culture. It is nothing more than a festering pit filled with flabby aristocrats. Athens is a blight on mother Gaia herself! I will destroy your city, my dear sister.** "

 _"Not if I stop you, my brother!"_

" _ **ENOUGH, BOTH OF YOU! Your childish squabbles are your own, but I do not want this war encroaching on the steps of Mount Olympus. We have other worries. Kratos may very well alter the course of all our destinies.**_ "

" _He is quite insane, My Lord. But he is strong._ "

" **On that, we can agree.** "

" _ **Yes…he is strong. But one day he may grow to be too strong for his own good. And for ours.**_ "

After what seemed like an eternity talking about the Ghost of Sparta, Zeus went back to his throne room and left Ares and Athena alone in the Pantheon. Both gods glared at each other, daring one to make a move against the other and bring the wrath of Zeus down upon the instigator.

" _This declaration of war upon my city will not go unpunished, Ares._ "

" **Oh yes it will, sister. You heard our father; he has forbidden us to fight among ourselves. You are the Goddess of Wisdom…breaking Zeus' official decree would not only tarnish that reputation of yours, but will also be your end.** "

As Ares walked away from Athena, the goddess immediately started to think of a way around Zeus' decree.

She then came to a solution: " _The gods may be forbidden to fight among ourselves,"_ she thought to herself _, "but Zeus never said anything about a mortal fighting a god…much less a warrior who was once trained by one._ " She looked back over to the clouds that showed images of the warrior whom the three gods were discussing earlier: the image showed a triumphant Kratos standing over the body of a now impaled Hydra. Satisfied with her choice, Athena smiled…but the smile vanished from her face as quickly as it arrived. " _Kratos is our champion, but I fear this task might prove to be too much even for him. I dare not send him alone. But whom could I possibly send to assist him? No warrior alive today can match his skill on the battlefield._ " Her head perked up at that last sentence, " _No warrior alive today…Khronos…the God of Space and Time_ ". As soon as she found her answer, Athena headed back toward her chambers on Olympus. Once she reached her chamber, she shut the door behind her and walked toward, and through, a glowing blue and purple portal known as the Hyperion Gate.

Athena walked through the Hyperion Gate and ended up on the Elysian Islands, also known as the Fortunate Isles; an island where the grass was always green, the mountains and hills were wrapped with trees, the waterfalls and lakes were crystal clear, and the clouds that passed were always pure white with no signs of foul weather. To mortals, this is what was thought to be the Elysian Fields, but was instead the kingdom of Khronos. She looked to her right and saw that the temple of Khronos was located right next to the entrance of the portal. She walked up to the temple steps and as soon as she reached the doors of the temple…they opened up for her. She walked into the temple and looked to her left and to her right searching for the God of Space and Time. " _Khronos_ ," the goddess called out. " _Khronos, it is I…Athena._ " Silence. " _Khronos…_ " The doors shut behind Athena at the third calling of the god, causing her to turn her head towards the doors. After a few seconds of silence, candles started to light on the walls of the temples and lit up the inside for Athena to see a figure standing in front of her.

"Athena," said the figure in red with a deep and ancient voice, "took you long enough".

" _You were expecting me?_ " The goddess asked the figure in red.

"Of course I was expecting you, I AM the God of Space and Time after all. I can see into the future far better than the Sisters of Fate could ever hope to dream." He removed his red hood as he explained this to Athena to reveal the face of an old man who had short, white, curly hair and a beard that went down to his chest, his face was that of a stern man who had witnessed many things on Earth as it progressed since the dawn of its birth, even though he possessed the face of an old man he possessed the physique of a ripped and powerful being, and he held a staff that had an hourglass at the very top in his left hand. This was Khronos, the God of Space and Time, and the most ancient of all the gods. "I also know the reason as to why you're here, as well as what led up to that point."

" _You were spying on us?_ "

"Given my position, it is my business to be up to date with current events not just with the mortals, but with the gods as well."

" _Ares must be stopped at all costs. I will not allow him to destroy my fair city out of childish jealousy._ "

"And so your plan is to send Kratos, the Ghost of Sparta, after Pandora's Box in order to slay Ares."

" _That is correct._ "

"However…doubt has crept into your mind, and so you wish to send someone to aide him on this fool's errand."

" _I do not doubt his abilities as a warrior; I know that Ares will pull every trick he can in order to prevent Kratos from fulfilling his mission. There's also the fact that…_ "

"No one has ever retrieved Pandora's Box or returned alive from said quest."

" _Which is why I seek the aide of a warrior who can keep up with his prowess on the battlefield. However, no warrior alive today can match him. That's where you come in._ "

"Need I remind you that Zeus decreed eons ago that it is forbidden for the gods to pull warriors from their time? Pulling living warriors from their era would be detrimental to the universe. I don't know about you, but as Ares mentioned, it wouldn't be wise of you to disobey Zeus' direct order. It could mean the end of you."

" _True, Zeus did decree that the gods are forbidden from pulling living warriors from their time…but he never said anything about bringing a warrior who had just died in battle and reviving them here._ "

A small smirk crept across the face of Khronos as Athena mentioned this loophole; he saw this coming from watching the future play before him and was hoping it would come to fruition. The banter between the two gods was a way for Khronos to test the goddess' mettle, and to his amusement, he was pleased that Athena lived up to the title…she had passed his test. "No…" he replied, "he didn't."

" _Then you'll help me find a warrior?_ "

"Yes…but not for free."

" _Of course. What would you have?_ "

The god hummed in thought before coming to a method of payment from the goddess. "I'll take…your pet owl."

" _What?_ "

"Bubo; at least I believe that's his name…"

" _Absolutely not!_ "

"Did you honestly think it would be that easy? Just because you found a loophole in Zeus' decree doesn't mean that this undertaking wouldn't cost you in some way. Loophole or not, we are still interfering with the timeline; and a task such as this will cost you greatly."

" _But why Bubo?_ "

"You and the rest of the gods who reside on Olympus teach the mortals they must sacrifice in order to please you. It's time someone led by example."

" _Bubo is not a trivial thing to be used as a sacrifice; he is my beloved pet. He's been with me through all of my escapades. If you even think about spilling his blood, I'll show you the very reason why I'm also known as the Goddess of War!_ " As she threatened the old god, she drew her swords from her back and readied herself in case he were to advance any closer.

"Calm yourself Athena, I don't seek the blood of your pet. I just want Bubo as payment, nothing more and nothing less."

She re-sheathed her swords at this response and retorted, " _Bubo isn't something to be bartered with either. He doesn't leave my side for anyone._ "

As Athena turned to walk away, Khronos called out to her tauntingly before she reached the door, "If that's how it is, then I won't help you. But think of this before you leave: without my help Kratos will fail his mission in retrieving Pandora's Box, and your great city will fall. But fear not…at least you'll still have your 'beloved pet'. It's your choice Athena: your pet, or your city."

Athena stopped in her tracks and clenched her fists as Khronos mentioned the consequences of what would happen if she didn't cooperate. She hated to admit it, but Khronos was right. She couldn't afford to call his bluff…if he was bluffing. She may be the goddess of wisdom but as Khronos mentioned, he could see into the future. What he said could very well happen; she couldn't afford to take any risks against the God of Space and Time. She finally relented and turned around to confront the old god, " _You swear on your honor as a god that no harm will befall Bubo?_ "

Khronos nodded, "You have my word, Athena"

She opened the temple doors and whistled for her pet. Moments later, Athena's pet owl flew to its master and perched itself onto her shoulder. Athena whispered into her pet's ears and kissed his forehead before the owl flew to its new master.

Khronos stroked the head of the owl, looked at Athena and said, "Let's get started then." He then tapped the floor of his temple with his staff, causing the temple doors to close and the candles on the walls to light brighter than before. He then took the hourglass that rested on top of his staff, turned it upside down, placed it back on top of his staff, and stuck it into the floor of his temple. The staff stood in place as the sands started flowing again at a faster rate; as the last bit of sand reached the bottom of the glass, a ripple appeared in front of the gods. It opened up and began to act as a window with a wave-like effect. "What you see before you is a mere window to witness events as they happen…for the moment. As soon as the warrior that you seek dies in battle, I will pull them from their era and bring them here."

The goddess that stood beside the ancient god was marveled at what lay before her as she said, " _You knew I was coming to see you. You've known for quite a while, haven't you? You also knew why I came to seek your aide. I assume you already have a warrior in mind?_ "

"You are correct in assuming this, Athena. I do, in fact, have just the warrior to assist Kratos on his final mission." With the wave of his hand, the mirror blurred and revealed an image of a red-headed woman whose hair went down to her waist with bright green eyes who was clad in a bronze armored corset, a bronze guard around her neck, a gold crown barely visible under her bangs but could be seen from the side, black sleeves that covered the majority of her arms up until the middle of her biceps, a bronze guard covering her left forearm, a band with a wave pattern wrapped around her left bicep, bronze armor covering the entirety of her legs, black-heeled boots, and finally a long red sash that wrapped around and hung at her waist. The weapons she wielded were that of a small hoplon-like shield as well as a red-and-bronze spear-like weapon that was able to, to the surprise of Athena, transform into a short sword and something that was able to cause a loud noise to come from the tip and hit her opponents from a distance.

Other than the girl's weaponry, Athena was fascinated with the battle prowess of the warrior that she was witnessing, " _Has mankind finally learned to harness magic to its fullest?_ "

"Not even close", the old god chuckled, "this my dear Athena is the far future. Three thousand years to be exact. Their technology has advanced so much that they have created deadlier ways to combat the forces of darkness that threatens their world. That style of weapon that you see them using is what they call a 'gun', and their ammunition is a crystallized energy propellant that they call 'dust'." Khronos continued his lecture to Athena on what dust was as well as the other powers and abilities that mankind was able to unlock in this far off future.

" _You certainly know a lot about this new world of man_ " the goddess remarked.

"It's my business to know what has and what will happen; it comes with the territory." the old god explained. Athena paid attention to the rest of the details that Khronos gave her about what mankind would become while watching the red-haired woman from before as she fended off multiple male warriors at once without even batting an eye.

" _The red-haired Huntress that we're witnessing now…who is she_?"

"The Huntress that you are witnessing is named Pyrrha Nikos. She was hailed among her peers as the 'Invincible Girl' because no one was able to best her in combat."

The name struck a chord of familiarity in Athena, " _Pyrrha Nikos…is she by any chance…_ "

"No" the old god interrupted, "she is not in any way related to Achilles. I know…I checked her ancestry thoroughly when I first heard her name. One other thing I forgot to mention about this era is that the majority of mankind is named after a color of some sort. She was given her name due to the color of her hair."

Athena continued to watch the prowess of the red-haired woman that was in the mirror. Athena was definitely impressed, but then she remembered a minute detail that Khronos mentioned, " _You said earlier that she WAS hailed as the 'Invincible Girl'. What happened?_ "

Khronos smiled as he noticed Athena picking up on that detail, "That's correct my dear. It's best if I show you all that happened."

With another wave of his hand, the mirror blurred once more and the events of that era began to play out before them.

* * *

 **2nd Author's Note: If you made it to the end, CONGRATULATIONS! Also, before anyone points out "Cronos already exists in the God of War series"...in this rendition I am using the actual God of Space and Time, not the Titan who fathered Zeus and his siblings. Also, to avoid confusion between the two: Khronos is pronounced "Kraw-nos", like the word "chronological". You're welcome.**


	2. Prologue 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own God of War or RWBY. God of War belongs to Santa Monica Studios and RWBY belongs to RoosterTeeth.**

 **The Fall of Beacon Academy**

Pyrrha Nikos had her left arm around Cinder's neck, her bladed weapon in the other, and held it to Cinder's throat; struggling to bring her weapon closer, but Cinder had her hands wrapped tightly around the short sword as they both stood up. The giant Dragon Grimm that held onto the tower flew off in order to prepare for an attack. All the while, Cinder used her powers of heat to melt the sword at certain areas; Pyrrha was about to change tactics until she saw the Dragon Grimm fly towards the tower where they fought at a ramming speed. Cinder took this opportunity and continued using her powers to melt the sword, snapping the blade into three pieces. Just as the Dragon rammed into the tower, Cinder slammed her elbow into Pyrrha; sending the red-haired huntress flying into the wall of the tower, with shards of glass and clock gears falling everywhere and the very roof of the once great beacon crumbling to the ground of the schoolyard. Pyrrha shook the cobwebs from her head and slowly crawled towards her shield, all the while an arrogant Cinder was floating in the air as if she were a god with the use of her powers over fire. Pyrrha looked at the debris, then back to Cinder and immediately began her counter attack. Activating her semblance, she motioned her arms from left to right. As she did this, a large metal grate was flung at Cinder; all Cinder could do was curl up as the large piece of metal was thrown at her. Pyrrha then grabbed her shield and rolled to her feet, preparing herself for the fight that was to come. Fire exploded from the area where Cinder landed as the giant grate went flying into the sky, with Cinder once again floating in the air. She then fired three streams of fire from her hands; Pyrrha dodged two of the three streams but was pushed back by the third (luckily her shield and aura guarded her from the flames). Cinder smirked once again and was unfazed when she saw Pyrrha's shield coming at her from the flames. She batted the shield away like it was nothing, but failed to realize that the shield was a distraction for something…bigger. She gasped as she saw multiple giant gears floating in the air and aimed directly at her. With a flick of her right hand, Pyrrha used her semblance over polarity to cause her shield to knock Cinder's feet from under her, knocking her off balance. Cinder was then immediately hit in the gut by a giant gear that drove her to the ground. Pyrrha called her shield back to her and continued her assault; as she closed her hand, all of the gears that surrounded Cinder collapsed on top of her, trapping her…or so it seemed. Cinder caused another explosion and sent all of the gears that trapped her flying, with one of them heading towards Pyrrha. The only thing that the redheaded Huntress could do in that moment was to hold her shield up in defense as the gear crashed into her and smashed her into a wall. As she hit the wall and groaned in pain, her entire being glowed red…her aura was completely depleted. She knew that she wouldn't last much longer if the fight kept going like this. Cinder got back to her feet and summoned a black bow and arrow and aimed it at Pyrrha. The young huntress saw this and quickly got to her feet, ran towards Cinder and threw her shield at the villain with all her might. At the same time, Cinder released the arrow from her bow; both weapons collided, but instead of the shield breaking the arrow...the arrow disintegrated around the shield, reformed as a whole arrow, and continued its trajectory towards her adversary. With the same momentum it had when released from the bow, the arrow continued on its path…lodging itself through Pyrrha's achilles tendon. Pyrrha screamed in pain as she fell to her hands and knees. She attempted to stand back up, but the pain of the arrow in her heel caused her to fall down once again as the ends of the arrow disintegrated and fell from her heel.

Back at Khronos' temple, the two gods bore witness to this fight as Athena finally spoke up, " _Are you sure she's not related to Achilles?_ "

"Positive."

" _Forgive my skepticism, but this just seems all too coincidental._ "

"Look...if you don't believe me, I'll show you the girl's ancestry myself after we've pulled her from her time. But for now, continue watching or you'll miss your opportunity."

Back at the fight, Cinder circled around her fallen opponent and began to taunt her, "It's unfortunate that you were promised a power that was never truly yours." She continued to taunt Pyrrha as she grabbed her face and lifted it up to face her, "But take comfort in knowing…that I will use it in ways you could NEVER have imagined."

Pyrrha defiantly moved her face away from Cinder's hands as she said, "Do YOU believe in destiny?"

The once arrogant smug on Cinder's face then turned into a look of distain as she answered, "Yes". Cinder stood to her feet as she once again summoned her bow and arrow to her hands, pulled back on the bow, and released it from her fingers…impaling Pyrrha through the chest.

As Pyrrha sat there gasping for air until she let out one final breath, the gods knew that their time was now. " _KHRONOS, NOW!_ "

Khronos immediately went to work on the process of bringing the fallen huntress to their time: he raised his staff into the air and slammed it down, creating a loud booming noise. Bubo left the god's shoulder and perched himself onto a higher area within the temple in order to avoid whatever may occur. Khronos then brought the staff to his face and began to chant, "Sto ónoma ton theón tou Olýmpou, me ti thélisi tou Chrónos kai tis Athinás, sas kaló polemistí se aftí ti stigmí tis apelpisías kai sas travíxei apó to chróno sas." (Translated it means "In the name of the Gods of Olympus, by the will of Khronos and Athena, I summon thee warrior in this moment of desperation and pull thee from thy time.") He then took his staff once again and swung it from one side to the other, with the sand flying from his hourglass and through the window that was before them. As Cinder walked towards Pyrrha, whom had just lumped over and fell into Cinder's hand, the sand from Khronos' hourglass landed all over Pyrrha's body. The sand glowed as soon as it touched the huntress, causing a confused look to fall upon Cinder. Khronos then took a deep breath in, then exhaled from his mouth, causing Pyrrha to completely dissolve with Khronos' sand and scatter into the wind.

As Pyrrha's crown dropped to the ground, Cinder backed away from what just occurred, "what in Remnant was…"

She never finished that sentence as a girl dressed in black with a red hooded cape, who just witnessed the death of her friend, scream at the top of her lungs with a bright white energy escaping from her eyes, "PYRRHA!"

The Dragon Grimm that assisted Cinder in battle screeched as everything went white, while all Cinder could do was let out a loud and confused "WHAT?!" as she too was consumed by the light.

* * *

 **Author's Note: At this point, I'm just testing the waters to see what happens. If I get a lot of people liking what they're reading, I'll continue posting. However, with the low numbers so far...I'm not feeling too confident. OH, one more thing: there will be NO PAIRINGS WHATSOEVER IN THIS STORY! Considering that Pyrrha is 17 and Kratos is in his 30's by the time the first "God of War" game occurs...that's a definite no.**


	3. Prologue 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own God of War of RWBY. God of War belongs to Santa Monica Studios and RWBY belongs to RoosterTeeth.**

Back at the temple, Athena had prepared a spot near an altar of the temple for Pyrrha's body to be laid when it finally arrived. A few moments later, the sands flew through the window that the gods were viewing and was guided to the altar by Khronos himself. Khronos snapped his fingers and Pyrrha's dead body, with the arrow in her chest still in tact, re-materialized. Athena crouched next to Pyrrha's body with a look of sadness in her eyes as she looked into the now lifeless green eyes of the young Huntress.

 _"Poor child"_ , Athena whispered, _"to have your life cut short at such a young age."_ She then gently tilted Pyrrha's body over onto her side where she saw the arrow sticking out through the girl's back. Athena broke off the end of the arrow and pulled the rest of it out of Pyrrha's chest; blood started to spill out of the wound where the arrow once was. She then placed her hand over the wound, exhaled, and her hand began to glow. Athena removed her hand to reveal that the damage the arrow caused was now healed. She then placed both of her hands onto the same area where the wound once was, closed her eyes, and began a chant of her own; _"Ánodos apó ton thánato nearós polemistís, giatí chreiázeste apó tous theoús"_ (translated means "Rise from death young warrior, for you are needed by the gods"). As soon as the chant was completed, Pyrrha's body began to shine; the light soon dissipated and life returned to her green eyes. She took in a deep breath of air and sat up as if she had just woken from a nightmare. Pyrrha looked at her surroundings and was confused to find that she was lying on the ground in front of two beings that she had never seen before.

"What happened? Where am I?"

Athena then placed her hand on the girl's shoulder in an attempt to relax her, _"Mi fováste, paidí."_ (Be not afraid, child).

Pyrrha was even more confused when she found that she wasn't able to understand a single word that came out of Athena's mouth, "I'm sorry miss, but I don't understand what you're saying."

As soon as Athena realized the situation, she gently placed her hands over Pyrrha's ears, closed her eyes, took in a deep breath, exhaled, and removed her hands from her ears. " _Can you understand me now, Pyrrha Nikos?"_

"Yes…but who are you? How do you know who I am?"

 _"Be not afraid, child. I am Athena: the Goddess of Wisdom, Craft, and Warfare."_

"And I am Khronos, the God of Space and Time. I'm the one who brought you here."

"You're gods? Forgive my rudeness…" Pyrrha attempted to stand, but quickly fell to her knees in pain when she tried to stand with her right foot. "What the…"

" _Don't try to stand yet; I haven't finished healing you."_

"Healing?"

Athena moved towards Pyrrha's leg and used her powers to pull the remaining piece of Cinder's arrow that didn't fall out of the girl's heel. Pyrrha winced in pain but did her best to remain still while Athena was working. Pyrrha then got a good look at the item that Athena pulled out of her heel.

"What is that?"

" _This is part of the arrow that was shot at your heel in your battle."_

"My…battle…" Pyrrha concentrated in order to remember what happened before she woke up. Images of the Creatures of Grimm attacking a school began to flood her mind; as she concentrated harder she remembered fighting alongside her friends in order to attempt to defend a city. She also recalled the image of a black-haired woman with piercing amber eyes that was locked in combat with her. "Cinder! She must be stopped! I have to get back to Beacon! My friends need me!"

"I am afraid that is impossible, Pyrrha Nikos."

"How come?"

"Because you are nowhere near your home. You are not even in your own era anymore."

"What do you mean by 'not in my own era'? You speak as if I've somehow traveled through time."

"That's right."

"Wait…are you serious?"

"God of Space and Time, remember?" he said sarcastically as he pointed at himself.

"Oh…I'm sorry."

"Don't be, young one. So now your question shouldn't be 'where' you are…"

"But when am I…"

"Exactly. You are three thousand years in the past."

"Three thousand years?!"

"Correct."

"Not to seem ungrateful for saving me, but I need you to send me back to my time."

"Again, that's impossible."

"Why?"

 _"Even though we are gods, we still have limits and restrictions. It's forbidden among us to continuously pull living warriors from their era and bring them here due to the risk of damaging the very fabric of reality and the universe itself. The only reason why we were able to pull you here without any consequences is because you died in combat and we revived you here. In order to send you back without damaging reality would be to…"_

"Would be to kill me again." Pyrrha said with sadness in her voice, realizing the predicament she was in.

"Yes. I'm sorry Pyrrha Nikos. I wish there was another way but unfortunately, in your era, when someone dies they don't come back. No one in your era possesses the power of restoring life to the dead. Well, your gods do…but they don't seem to be in any rush to intervene on the affairs of mortals." He then shook his head and chuckled at what he just said, "It's funny, isn't it Athena?"

The goddess looked back at Khronos in confusion, _"what is?"_

"The more things change, the more they stay the same."

Athena glared at the old god and asked, " _And what exactly do you mean by that?"_

"A good question…but that discussion should be tabled for another time. I believe you have some business to attend to with Miss Pyrrha Nikos."

Athena turned around to see a saddened Pyrrha who was still trying to let everything that was told to her sink in and all that it entailed: the fact that she had died in combat, that she had failed in protecting her school when it came under siege, that she was now forever separated from her friends and worse…was now separated from the man she loved; her heart was breaking all over again. She looked up at the gods who stood before her and did her best to dry her eyes from the tears that were forming.

" _Pyrrha Nikos…"_

"Please…just call me Pyrrha," the girl said as she wiped her eyes.

" _Pyrrha…the reason why you've been summoned from your time and into ours is because you have been chosen to undertake a dangerous task. For you see…"_ Athena turned to Khronos once again who switched the image on the window through time, which was still hovering in the air, to events that were occurring right now in the city of Athens. Pyrrha walked with Athena, with a slight limp in her step, towards the window and was stricken with horror with what she saw: images of buildings on fire, men and women running from creatures (that were unfamiliar to her) that slaughtered innocent people one by one, and the image of the god who was responsible for the massacre. A being that stood far above even the tallest mountains, bronze armor covering his upper body that was adorned with images of a three-headed dog, wearing a kilt made of iron, shin and arm guards wrapped in chains, and possessed hair and a beard that looked and moved like fire itself, _"…my city is being attacked as we speak by my brother Ares, the God of War. Unfortunately, our father Zeus has forbidden the gods from waging war upon each other."_

"Why would Ares do such a thing?"

 _"Ares has always been jealous of our father's 'favoritism', as he thinks, towards my city. We have always had our arguments, but we've never done anything of this magnitude towards each other. Never did I imagine that he'd go this far."_

As Athena explained Ares' methods, more memories of the carnage that transpired at her school came back to Pyrrha: the Creatures of Grimm attacking innocent people, destroying innocent lives on a whim...and Cinder was the one in command. What happened at Beacon was happening all over again. She then came to a conclusion: she may have failed to protect her home, but she would not allow another city to fall. She was a Huntress, and helping people is what she always wanted to do. Pyrrha turned to Athena with determination in her eyes, "how can I help?"

 _"I have chosen you, along with another mortal, to put an end to Ares once and for all. You will meet up with him and together you will converse with the Oracle on a way to defeat my brother."_

"By 'put an end to', you don't mean…"

 _"Yes Pyrrha. The only way to stop him…is to kill him."_

"But…he's your brother."

 _"I've tried to reason with him in the past, but it's no use. He is the God of War and he lives to uphold that reputation, no matter who his opponent is. He will stop at nothing until he's destroyed everything."_

Pyrrha looked into the mirror once again and saw the innocent people of Athens being ripped apart by the horrid beasts that Ares set upon the city. She knew what had to be done, but the very idea that she was given permission to kill someone's brother made her a little uneasy. She then saw the face of Ares once more; a smirk of pure satisfaction sat upon his face with no remorse whatsoever of what he was doing. The image brought back memories of her fight with Cinder and her smug face when chaos was unleashed upon Beacon. She clenched her fists; determined once more to stop this madness. "This 'mortal' that I will be teaming up with…who is he?"

"That 'mortal', as Athena called him, is unlike any being that you've ever encountered, dear Pyrrha." The two females looked towards Khronos as he spoke once again. With another wave of his hand, the image on the window changed once again to reveal a pale, bald, bulked-up warrior wearing half of a red kilt and sporting the lower half of a goatee, hazel eyes filled with years of rage that showed no signs of anything else, cloth wrapped around his left leg and calf as well as his right bicep and both of his forearms, chains wrapped around his forearms that connected to a set of jagged edged short swords, with a large red tattoo that wrapped around the left half of his upper body and face, a scar covering his right eye, and finally wearing black, leather sandals and a black shin guard on his right leg and half of a guard on his left. The image of the pale skinned warrior played out before them as he kicked open a door to a cabin and slaughtered the monsters that had slain the crew-members with relative ease. Blood spilled onto Kratos' chest as he disposed of the final creature by driving his blade through the abdomen of the Undead Legionnaire and bringing his blade upward; slicing the creature's torso in half. Pyrrha could only watch in awe and fear as she witnessed the brutality of the man that she assumed she would be assisting. "His name is Kratos, also known as 'The Ghost of Sparta'. Once he was a servant to Ares, but now he has dedicated his life to the other Gods of Olympus in order to rid himself of the nightmares that haunt him. He has been their champion for ten years now."

"If he's been your champion for ten years, why do you need me to assist him?"

" _Because I know that Ares will do anything and everything in his power to prevent Kratos from fulfilling the mission that I have set for him. A mission that I bestow upon you as well."_

"To stop Ares at all costs from destroying your city."

 _"Correct, Pyrrha."_

Pyrrha looked around the temple to see if the gods may have brought her weapons with her when she was brought to this new era, only to be shocked when she didn't see them anywhere. "Did you happen to grab my weapons when you brought me here?"

"Unfortunately, no. You see, when I brought you here, my sands only made contact with your body. Your shield was far away from your being and your other weapon was destroyed in combat."

" _We do have a shield that'll be a suitable replacement for the one left in your era, but we'll have to visit my brother Hephaestus, the God of Blacksmiths, to make you a new weapon."_

Pyrrha then finally noticed that her head felt lighter than usual; she placed her hand on her forehead and noticed that her crown was gone as well. "What happened to my crown?"

"Ah yes, your crown", he rolled his eyes as he readied himself for another explanation, "Remember what Athena said about limits and restrictions? Well…eons ago, Zeus, the King of the Gods, placed a restraint on my powers. The magic I used to bring you here was just a small fragment of my former self. If I didn't have that restraint, I would have been able to bring you, your weapons, and your crown here without any problems. But…that's a story for a different time."

"I'm sorry to hear."

"Don't be. Athena can have Hephaestus make another one for you. As it turns out, your former arms and crown are now serving a greater purpose."

"Greater purpose?"

With another wave of his hand over the window, the image changed again to the far distant future after Beacon's fall. Pyrrha stared into the window and saw her former teammates and a classmate standing outside of a shop as if waiting for someone. The door opened and out walked another one of her former teammates: a teenage boy with yellow, spiky hair and wearing a black hooded sweater with white and gold armor covering his upper body and sporting a red sash that hung at his hip, carrying a white shield with gold surrounding the outer ridges, gold now surrounding the hilt of his sword and the gauntlets that held them, and on his shield were two designs: two golden arches in the center and the design of her crown at the bottom. Pyrrha's eyes began to water again, this time for happiness and pride at what she saw before her with the name of this boy silently escaping her lips, "Jaune…"

"Your beloved has used the remnants of your armory and crown and implemented them into his own arsenal. A fitting tribute if I do say so myself."

Pyrrha wiped the tears from her eyes once more, a smile crossing her face for the first time in what seemed to her like an eternity, looked at the old god and said, "Thank you for showing me that, Mr. Khronos. I really appreciated it."

Khronos bowed his head and said, "You are most welcome, my child."

Athena then walked up to Pyrrha and tapped her on the shoulder, signaling that the time to leave was now. Before they left, Athena turned back at Khronos one last time and said, " _Thank you for your help Khronos. It will not be forgotten."_

With that, Athena and Pyrrha walked out of Khronos' temple. As the doors closed behind them, Bubo flew back onto the shoulder of the old god as a grin fell on his face. In an ominous voice he said to himself, "You really are a fool, Athena. If you knew what the future had in store then you wouldn't be thanking me. For by bringing in another warrior to assist your brother…you have sealed your own fate. As well as the fate of the gods." He turned towards the window once again, but this time it had a different image: in it was Kratos standing over a destroyed Mt. Olympus overlooking the chaos that had been unleashed upon the world, with Pyrrha's body in his arms.

* * *

As the two women walked away from the temple, Pyrrha noticed a portal right next to the entrance of the temple. She looked at it and asked, "What is that?"

" _This is the Hyperion Gate: the gods of Olympus use these portals to travel to and from Olympus, or to another god's lair who doesn't reside on Olympus itself."_

"Is this how we're going to reach Hephaestus?"

Remembering that Pyrrha was a mortal, she stopped Pyrrha from advancing any further to the portal and replied, " _Normally the Hyperion Gate is used as a method of travel for the gods. Unfortunately, you are a mortal; so we'll have to reach Hephaestus by a different means_."

"How are we going to do that?"

Athena stepped away from the portal and whistled an even louder whistle than the one she had used to summon her owl. A few short minutes passed by after the whistle; then, out of the sky descended a white Pegasus with flaming wings. It landed gracefully next to Athena and nuzzled its head with Athena's. " _This beast is known as a Pegasus; wild ones are extremely difficult to tame. But if you're successful in taming one, they become more loyal than a dog."_

"It's beautiful."

 _"Indeed they are."_

Pyrrha walked towards the winged horse that towered over both Athena and herself; when she approached the horse, she gently pet the creature by starting at the neck and slowly made herself to the horse's head. The Pegasus turned its head to look at Pyrrha and stared into her green eyes with its pale blue eyes, as if it was searching Pyrrha's soul. A few seconds later and the winged horse started to gently nuzzle Pyrrha's head with its own.

" _It appears he likes you. Now then, get on its back; I will guide you to Hephaestus' home on the Isle of Lemnos. It's going to be a long journey."_

"Aren't you going to get on as well?"

" _That won't be necessary."_ This statement confused Pyrrha, at first, until she saw Athena transform into an owl right in front of her. Shock and awe replaced confusion as the process finished. As Athena flew into the sky, Pyrrha held on to the Pegasus' mane for dear life as the winged horse began to flap its wings and follow Athena at high speeds.

* * *

 **Author's Note: To those of you who are wondering why I changed the name of this story from "Gods of War" to "Invincible Warriors"...well turns out there are already HUNDREDS of stories titled "Gods of War" so I had to come up with something different. "Invincible Warriors" came to mind and well...here it is.**


	4. Prologue 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own God of War or RWBY: God of War belongs to Santa Monica Studios while RWBY belongs to RoosterTeeth.**

 **Volcano of Lemnos: Hephaestus' Forge**

Deep within the volcano of Lemnos laid the forge of Hepaestus, Olympus' blacksmith and craftsman; the walls were decorated with weapons that he had forged, tables were adorned with jewelry for the goddesses, gears were turning as lava flowed within the forge to heat a furnace that was near a workbench. The god who worked within this forge was a being who was as tall as a three-story building, he wore the garments of a typical blacksmith, his long hair covering his ears but reaching only his shoulders, his brown eyes (which matched the color of his beard) focused on finishing creating an item. The god walked with a limp towards a table as a small teenage girl with brown and white hair and wearing a white dress with her midriff showing, skipped next to him with eagerness in her eyes.

"Is it ready yet, father?"

"Be patient Pandora, it's almost done. Hahaha." Before he had the opportunity to finish his gift, he heard a loud knocking coming from the entrance of his forge. He turned toward the direction of the sound with confusion on his face, "now who could that be at this time of day?"

"Father?"

"Stay here for now, I'll be right back."

"Ok."

As Hephaestus left his workbench, Pandora patiently waited at his workbench for his return…while keeping her eyes fixed on the item that her father was working on. Hephaestus slowly made his way to the giant metal doors as the knocking continued, "Hold your chariot, I'm coming." He opened the doors and was shocked to see that his sister was standing at his door. "Athena? What are you doing knocking on my door like a human? Don't the Gods usually use the Hyperion Gate?"

 _"Under normal circumstances, yes. However; this is not one of those times."_

"How so?" As soon as he asked the question, he heard the neighing of a horse and looked up to see a redheaded woman he had never seen before dismounting from a white Pegasus. He then put the pieces of his own puzzle together, "Ah; you couldn't use the gate because you brought a human in need of a weapon."

 _"That is correct, brother."_

"So who's the girl?"

 _"Her name is Pyrrha Nikos."_

"Pyrrha Nikos…you know I've only heard of one warrior who was ever given that name, and it was used as an alias."

 _"I assure you, she has no relation to Achilles."_

"Figured as much; seeing as how Achilles' mother forced him to dress in drag in order to avoid the Trojan War, whereas she looks like she's unafraid to go to war. So…is she one of Hippolyta's girls, or maybe even a Spartan?"

 _"Neither. She's a skilled warrior from a land far from ours whose weapons were destroyed in combat and is in need of a replacement."_

"Why doesn't she just seek out the blacksmith of her own village? What are you up to, Athena?"

 _"Ares is attacking my city as we speak. Since Zeus has forbidden us from fighting amongst ourselves, I'm sending her on a mission to kill him. Only you can provide the weapon she needs in order to fight against him and his forces."_

"Let me get this straight…you're sending a child to kill the God of War? You're starting to take after our father Athena. That's quite sadistic of you to do."

 _"I'm not sending her alone. This mission will also prove to be Kratos' final task."_

"Kratos? The Ghost of Sparta?"

 _"The very same."_

"Well in that case, come on in. We can discuss the details of her weapon inside."

 _"You're willing to help, just like that?"_

"Ares has had this coming for a long time. I've always hated him ever since he had an affair with my wife, Aphrodite. If they're successful in killing him, we'll consider that payment for my labor."

Athena then turned to wave to Pyrrha, signaling her to come inside. Pyrrha walked away from the Pegasus and politely introduced herself to the blacksmith god, both amusing and shocking him with the amount of respect she showed towards him. As the two walked towards the forge with Pyrrha describing the kind of weapon she was looking for, Athena stopped walking with them as she heard the sound of a roar calling her name.

Back at the workbench, Pandora was about to place the ring that her father made for her around her finger when saw her father approaching with the red-haired Huntress.

"Pandora, clear a spot on the workbench please. I've got quite the project ahead of me."

"At once, father."

"Pyrrha Nikos, this is my daughter, Pandora. Pandora, this is Pyrrha Nikos, Athena's chosen warrior."

"A pleasure to meet you, Pandora."

"Likewise."

"Now then, about this weapon and crown you want me to make, do you have a layout of some sort for me to work with?"

"As a matter of fact…" Pyrrha searched her body for her scroll to show Hephaestus what her previous weapon used to look like but found that it wasn't on her, "um…do you actually have something to write with?"

"Pandora, can you get a piece of charcoal and a slip of paper for Pyrrha to write with?"

"Of course, father."

"This weapon that you were describing…you said you made it yourself?"

"Oh yes, everyone in my home who wanted to become a warrior was taught how to make their own weapon for themselves."

"A good practice."

"Here you go father."

"Thank you, Pandora." Hephaestus took the materials from Pandora and gently handed the items to Pyrrha. She then went to work drawing an image of her weapon and describing its functions as best as she could on the paper. When she finished, she handed the paper to the god who looked at it and whistled in amazement. "You made this weapon yourself?"

"Yes sir."

"A weapon that's able to change its shape…the crown won't be an issue, but the weapon…this will be a fun project indeed. You said you also used to have a shield, correct?"

"Yes sir."

"While I prepare the materials we'll need, help yourself to that collection of shields I have upon my wall; see which suits you best." Pyrrha searched the shield collection for anything that was either close to or the same as her previous one, Akoúo̱. She tried every shield she came across to feel its weight and sturdiness, but shook her head at all of them and placed it back on the wall. She finally came across a golden Diplyon shield that had the design of a golden star in the center that was surrounded by images of swords and eight dots between the spaces of each blade. She took the shield from the wall and looked it over, tried it on…and decided that this was the one for her. As Hephaestus finished gathering materials, he looked over at Pyrrha, shook his head while chuckling, turned his head towards Athena (who looked deep in conversation with someone calling for her) and said to himself, "Are you sure she's not related to Achilles, Athena? It can't be a coincidence that she chose his style of shield." He then took one of the pieces of metal he collected, placed it in the furnace until it changed to a red color, took the metal out and started pounding on it with a hammer. As Hephaestus was working, Pyrrha approached him while looking over at Athena with confusion on her face. "Whenever a god's eyes glow like that, that means that they're conversing with a mortal through a statue made in their image. Athena is probably conversing with the Ghost of Sparta."

"Kratos?"

"The very same."

"I've been meaning to ask…why is he called that anyways? It can't be because of the complexion of his skin, can it?"

Hephaestus stopped pounding the metal and looked at Pyrrha with confusion firmly planted on his face now. "You really aren't from around these parts, are you? Just his name alone strikes fear into the hearts of all who reside in Greece."

"No sir."

He then looked over at Athena and thought to himself, "where exactly did you find this kid, Athena?" He exhaled in annoyance, looked at Pyrrha and began to tell the tale of Kratos and how he had become the monster that he was known for.

* * *

 **Author's Note: So I have absolutely NO IDEA what happened the last time I uploaded this thing...or this time. I've done the copy and paste technique multiple times but that NEVER happened before. To those of you who commented saying "you may have to re-upload" the story...THANK YOU for informing. I tried uploading the story again and, surprise surprise, IT HAPPENED AGAIN! FORCING ME TO DELETE ALL OF THAT NUISANCE WORD BY WORD! Anyways...here's the re-uploaded version of the 4th prologue, hope you all enjoy it.**


	5. Prologue 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own God of War or RWBY. God of War belongs to Santa Monica Studios and RWBY belongs to RoosterTeeth.**

 **Sea Captain's Cabin: After the Defeat of the Hydra**

Kratos kicked open the door to the captain's cabin, only to find that he was too late in saving the remaining passengers from three Undead Legionnaires. Two of the passengers fell from the blade of their killers while another was stabbed through the chest while they lay defenseless on the ground as she screamed for help. Kratos charged in and swung his Blades of Chaos to his right, killing one of the Legionnaire, swung to his left thus killing another, and drove his blade through the abdomen of the final one and bisected his upper torso; blood spilled onto Kratos' chest as the final creature fell. He then looked at the carnage of what was left of the cabin and the passengers. Slaughtered like animals, the victims lay before him, a reminder of his own past…a past he could never escape. His only solace was the sea. Endlessly sailing from one harbor to the next, in service to the Gods of Olympus. All his hopes rested with them. For no matter how much wine he consumed or how many women he took to his bed, nothing on earth could rid him of the horrors that plagued his mind. Kratos sat at the edge of his bed with two naked women lying next to him with empty wine cups on the floor as the deeds of his past ran rampant through his mind until he finally roared to the heavens for the Goddess who had been watching over him. **"ATHENA!"** On the deck of the ship that Kratos now traveled on, rested a tall statue in the image of Athena. The eyes of the statue opened and began to glow as Kratos slammed opened the deck doors with anger, **"TEN YEARS, ATHENA! I HAVE FAITHFULLY SERVED THE GODS FOR TEN YEARS! WHEN WILL YOU RELIEVE ME OF THESE NIGHTMARES?!"**

 _"We request one final task of you Kratos, your greatest challenge awaits in Athens. Where even now, my brother, Ares lays siege. As we speak, Athens is on the verge of destruction. It is the will of Ares, my great city falls. Zeus has forbidden the gods from waging war on each other. That is why it must be you, Kratos. Only a mortal, trained by a god has a chance at defeating Ares."_

Kratos then with a new tone in his voice, with the feeling of relief and (for the first time in a long time) hope replies to this new task given to him, **"AND IF I AM ABLE TO DO THIS, TO KILL A GOD, THEN THE VISIONS…THEY WILL END?"**

 _"Complete this final task, and the past that consumes you will be forgiven. Have faith Kratos, the gods do not forget those who come to their aide."_ As Kratos walked away from Athena's statue to set course for Athens, the statue called him back for one last detail of his new mission, _"Kratos, there is one more thing I must inform you of. I will be sending a warrior to assist you in this undertaking. She will meet you at the docks of Athens as soon as you arrive."_

 **"THERE IS NO NEED, ATHENA. WHOEVER IT IS YOU SEND, THEY WILL ONLY GET IN THE WAY."**

 _"You and I both know firsthand of my brother's tactics; you'll need not only your training but her help as well. Besides, she is a very capable warrior who has fought just as many monsters as you, Kratos."_

 **"I HOPE YOU'RE RIGHT, ATHENA."**

Leaving the rotting carcass of the Hydra behind, Kratos set sail once more. His greatest challenge, and freedom from his growing madness, lay before him in the ancient city of Athens.

* * *

As Athena finished her conversation with Kratos back at the forge, Hephaestus was finishing his story about the Spartan to Pyrrha. During said story, he had already finished recreating Pyrrha's old crown by following the details that she had written on the paper. "After he killed the Furies, Kratos was finally free of his bond with Ares. But in doing so, he was cursed yet again with visions of what he did in service to him; thus haunting him forevermore. He then dedicated his life to serving the Gods of Olympus in hopes to one day rid his mind of the nightmares that haunt him to this day."

A flurry of emotions ran through Pyrrha's mind at the conclusion of the story: anger and disgust towards the god who caused Kratos to become such a being, horror at what Kratos had done in service to said god, shock that Ares stooped so low as to tricking him into killing his own family, and finally sorrow that he was forever cursed to live his life with the ashes of his wife and child on his skin.

Athena approached the two as the story concluded, _"Kratos is crossing the Aegean Sea towards Athens as we speak; at the rate he's traveling, he'll be in Athens in approximately two days. Is Pyrrha's weapon ready yet?"_

"Almost Athena, I still need to work out the transforming aspect of the weapon." Hephaestus brought the weapon closer towards his face in order to get a closer look for inspection; he then used the ring on his hand to surge electricity through the weapon. He then handed the weapon to Pyrrha, "you said you had a name for your weapon, correct?"

"Yes sir, Miló was the name of my old weapon."

"Well, consider this the rebirth of Miló."

The weapon that was in Hephaestus' giant hands was a red and gold xiphos that was eighty-six centimeters long with no guard to separate the hilt from the blade. Pyrrha took the weapon from the god's hand and looked it over.

"Give it a try" the smith god encouraged.

Pyrrha spun the weapon around in her right hand and the xiphos transformed into a dory spear that matched her in height. She spun the weapon one more time and it transformed into an M1 Garand Rifle.

"Remember how I shocked the weapon with my ring? Point that weapon of yours at the door and see what happens."

Athena moved out of the way as Pyrrha pointed the end of her newly formed gun towards the giant metal doors, pulled the trigger, and out of the barrel came a bolt of lightning that created a hole in the door big enough for Pyrrha and Athena to walk through. Pyrrha and Athena marveled at what Hephaestus had created, while the smith god himself grinned at the completion of his creation.

"I followed your instructions to the last detail. That whole 'dust' thing that you mentioned however is something that isn't found in these parts. So I implemented a little bit of magic from my ring. So now magic will be what fuels the firepower of your boom-stick. How do you like it?"

With a smile on her face, Pyrrha spun the weapon one more time to transform it into its xiphos mode and placed both her new shield and newly created weapon onto her back as she said to the smith god, "It's perfect. Better than my old one in fact. Thank you Mr. Hephaestus, you did a magnificent job."

Athena spoke up after witnessing the power of the newly created weapon, _"I agree with Pyrrha. Well-done brother. Do you still have an area set aside for breaking in newly created weapons?"_

"Ah, you're referring to The Arena. As a matter of fact, that still stands. There's a door located next to the furnace that leads further down into the volcano. Take the stairs all the way down and you'll reach it. Take as much time as you need."

 _"Thank you, brother."_

Athena and Pyrrha made their way to the door with Hephaestus close by; he opened the door for them and lit a torch on the wall inside the entrance, thus causing the rest of the torches to light up as well. As the two females walked down the spiraling staircase, Pandora approached her father. "Father?"

"Yes, Pandora?"

"Do you really think she and Kratos will be able will be able to…"

"The only way to kill a god is to draw upon the powers of your box, Pandora; and it has been trapped inside of your temple for over a thousand years. Many have tried, all of them have failed to retrieve it."

"Yes…but the people who are going after it this time…"

"Kratos and this Pyrrha girl. Yes. Kratos is our champion and has endured many trials; but not even he is strong enough to conquer the perils of your temple. As for Pyrrha…"

"I can sense that she is a powerful warrior herself."

"Yes, you're right. But I can tell by looking at her that she lacks the brutality necessary in order to survive what awaits her. She'll only slow him down…but then again…I could be wrong."

"Are you actually worried?"

"Not in the slightest. It's as I said before, many have tried to collect your box but none have succeeded. They'll both fall just like the rest."

"That's a shame…I really like that Pyrrha girl."

"As do I, Pandora. As do I."

* * *

Twenty minutes passed as Athena and Pyrrha walked down the spiraling staircase towards The Arena; as they walked, Pyrrha decided to ask a question that was on her mind ever since hearing Kratos' story from Hephaestus. "Athena."

 _"Yes Pyrrha?"_

"I was wondering…why did you choose me to assist Kratos?"

 _"What do you mean? I could've sworn I answered that question at Khronos' temple."_

"You did, but I…I asked Hephaestus why Kratos was known as 'The Ghost of Sparta'. After hearing his story and how he became what he is…why choose me? He and I are nothing alike."

Athena flinched when Pyrrha told her that she questioned her brother about Kratos, she was annoyed that her brother did what she was going to do but she knew it had to happen sooner or later. _"I chose you for two reasons: the first being everything that I told you while we were at Khronos' temple. Though you lack his brutality on the battlefield, there is no denying your own prowess. The second reason is because I believe you might be able to help Kratos regain some of his humanity."_

"In what way?"

 _"You know how Kratos became a monster because of Ares' deceit, I believe that through you he can feel something that he hasn't felt in a long time. Hope. Compassion. Even selflessness."_

"I honestly don't know if I can help him. I'll try, but Hephaestus told me that he's been what he's been for ten years. It's difficult to change people when they've been set in their own way for that long."

 _"I know you can do it Pyrrha. If there's anything I learned from watching you through Khronos' mirror, it's that your actions inspire others to fight even though it seems like all is lost, and for people to better themselves."_

As the conversation concluded, they reached The Arena; a bridge separated them from the staircase to a circular platform that was held in the air by chains that connected to the wall, fourteen stones and air vents lay on the ground above the area where the chains connected to the platform itself, in the center of the floor lay a golden image of a Greek warrior wielding the same style of shield as Pyrrha, only he had the image of a bull's head on his shield and wore an Athenian helmet while holding a spear next to his head. The two walked across the bridge and onto the platform that lay before them, Pyrrha marveled at how such a training ground existed beneath a volcano. _"Before you assist Kratos on his final mission, you must become familiar with the creatures that you will face. As well as how to defeat them."_ Athena waved her hands in front of her being and summoned images of each creature that Ares had either summoned to fight in Athens, or placed at Pandora's Temple to stop anyone and everyone from reaching Pandora's Box: Undead Legionnaires, Minotaurs, Cyclopes, Harpies, Gorgons, Wraiths, Sirens, Cerberus Dogs, Centaurs, and Satyrs. Athena went into detail about the creatures and how to defeat them when she encountered them, and as soon as the lecture ceased…Athena summoned eight Undead Legionnaire from the projection. The creatures surrounded Pyrrha with their weapons gripped in their hands; Pyrrha readied herself with her shield and xiphos, waiting for the first one to attack. _"We have two days before Kratos reaches Athens; during that time I will get you ready for what's to come. Prepare yourself, Pyrrha Nikos."_ Athena snapped her fingers, and the Legionnaire that surrounded Pyrrha closed in on her. Pyrrha switched her weapon from a xiphos and into its spear mode, made the end extend, and swung it in a full circle around her; decapitating all of the Legionnaires at once. As the heads flew off of each creature, she was surprised that each of these creatures bled profusely before disappearing into black smoke.

"These creatures" she thought to herself, "they bleed, just like a living being. But they lack an aura to protect themselves and return to nothingness the same way as the Grimm do…could it be that they're related somehow?"

 _"Impressive Pyrrha, but that's just the beginning."_ Five more Undead Legionnaire sprang from the projections alongside two Minotaurs. The latter creatures roared in anger as they slowly approached the young Huntress. Pyrrha charged the approaching horde, jumped in the air, and continued to engage in combat against the creatures. She knew that she was going to be in for quite the training session.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Ok everyone; good news and bad news time.  
** **The good news is that this is the LAST prologue. Which means that Pyrrha will meet Kratos and the actual story can get underway.  
** **The bad news is that school is going to be starting up again soon for me so this might be placed on hiatus for a while. To add on top of that, this story still isn't nearly as popular as I was hoping it would be. So if this thing actually gets enough likes and favorites (maybe even some feedback/reviews) by the time school starts up, I might be motivated to continue.  
** **Anyways, hope you all enjoy the final prologue!**


	6. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own God of War or RWBY. God of War belongs to Santa Monica Studios, while RWBY belongs to RoosterTeeth.**

 **The Gates of Athens**

Kratos' ship finally reached the harbor outside of the Gates of Athens; the two naked blonde and brunette women in his bed stirred as Kratos prepared himself for the coming battle. "Stay Kratos, just a bit longer" the blonde said. "Come back to bed, Kratos" the brunette said seductively.

Kratos stopped in his tracks, never once turning back towards the women and said, **"WE HAVE REACHED ATHENS, GET YOUR THINGS AND GET OUT."** As he walked the halls of the ship he readied his mind for the mission that was to come. His final mission has come at last; a chance to finally be rid of the nightmares that haunt him, and a chance for revenge at what Ares did to him. He didn't even bother thinking about the warrior that Athena mentioned; all he cared about was finishing this final task. He climbed to the deck of the ship as it approached the docks of Athens and approached Athena's statue one more time.

 _"Find the oracle, Kratos. She will guide you in your quest."_

Kratos heard a commotion coming from the docks as Athena finished her sentence; he walked over to the side of the ship, where a board had been prepared for an exit, and saw four Armored Legionnaires locked in combat with a redheaded female warrior. Kratos squinted his eyes to get a better look at the warrior who was fighting the creatures with ease and was shocked to notice something discomforting about this warrior. **"A CHILD?"** he said to himself then turning back to the statue, **"YOU SEND A CHILD TO AIDE ME, ATHENA?"**

 _"Do not underestimate her, Kratos. She is a very skilled and capable warrior who has fought off her fair share of monsters as you have. Besides, you weren't that much older than she when you became the youngest Spartan to ever hold the title of Captain."_

Kratos looked back at Pyrrha as she finished off the last Legionnaire by raising her shield to decapitate the creature. After the final body fell to the ground and disintegrated into dust, Pyrrha stood firm and ready for another wave of creatures to arrive if any dared show up. Kratos merely glared at who stood on the docks; he had no quarrel with how Athena sent a woman to help him, he hailed from Sparta after all and Spartan women were arguably just as tough as the men, but the fact that a young-ling was sent to assist him in slaying Ares didn't sit right with him. **"UNDERSTAND THIS ATHENA: IF SHE DIES ON THIS QUEST, HER BLOOD WILL BE ON YOUR HANDS. NOT MINE."** Kratos left the ship and walked towards the young Huntress who still remained still in anticipation for the next creature to approach. **"GIRL"** he called out, snapping Pyrrha out of her battle stance and turning towards the direction of the voice.

"Kratos" she replied, placing her weapons back onto her back, "Athena and Hephaestus told me all about you. My name is Pyrrha Nikos. But you can just call me Pyrrha." She stuck her hand out for a handshake to which Kratos gripped in return to test her strength. He was relieved when he noticed that the girl had a firm handshake, knowing that he wouldn't have to baby-sit this new warrior the entire journey.

 **"YOU SAID THAT ATHENA WAS ONE OF THE GODS WHO TOLD YOU ABOUT ME; I ASSUME SHE ALREADY TOLD YOU WHY WE'RE HERE IN ATHENS?"**

"To stop Ares at all costs from destroying the city."

 **"THAT'S RIGHT. REMEMBER THIS: WE ARE FIGHTING AGAINST A GOD OF OLYMPUS, SO DO NOT HOLD ANYTHING BACK. ONE FINAL THING: WHEN WE DO FIGHT ARES, I WILL BE THE ONE TO KILL HIM. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"**

With determination in her eyes Pyrrha looked at Kratos and replied, "I am very well aware of what Ares did to you, Athena herself informed me that you are the one to kill him. You will get no argument from me."

The two were interrupted by three more Undead Legionnaire as they emerged from the ground through pits of darkness. Kratos and Pyrrha removed their weapons from their backs and readied themselves for the fight to come. Before Pyrrha took take a step forward, Kratos charged towards the three creatures; he swung both of his blades in a vertical, circular motion to launch all three of them and himself into the air. With the creatures at a loss of balance, Kratos began slashing at all of the monsters in the air with his Blades of Chaos before finishing them off with a stream of lightning that emanated from his body and spread into a circle around him (Poseidon's Rage), electrocuting the creatures to death and disintegrating them into nothingness. Pyrrha's mouth dropped at what she just witnessed, when she saw Kratos through Khronos' mirror she knew that he was a disciplined warrior but she didn't expect to see lightning coming out of him.

 **"COME PYRRHA, THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING."**

"What was that just now?"

 **"WHAT?"**

"That lightning show you just displayed…what was that?"

 **"THAT WAS A GIFT FROM THE GOD OF THE SEAS, POSEIDON. I TOLD YOU, WE CANNOT HOLD ANYTHING BACK."**

Kratos and Pyrrha then walked with each other as they traversed alongside the gate that didn't get destroyed during the invasion. They both eventually rounded a corner and jumped across a destroyed walkway and landed on a platform with a large switch sticking from the ground. Kratos pulled the switch to reveal that the platform was an elevator, causing said platform to ascend. When the elevator stopped, Kratos and Pyrrha walked across a wooden deck and turned left at the corner to see two Athenian warriors running for their lives.

"RUN, RUN! THE BEASTS HAVE TAKEN ATHENS!"

As the two ran, one of the soldiers looked back to see two Minotaurs wielding axes stopping themselves from running. One Minotaur was foaming from the mouth as he threw one of his axes towards the soldiers; the furthest soldier back was able to duck out of the way as the ax flew by him, but noticed that it was now on a collision course with his fellow soldier. "LOOK OUT!" is what he shouted toward his fellow soldier. As the soldier turned around, Pyrrha's weapon dropped from above (which was now in its spear mode) at the axe, causing it to be pinned to the ground with the soldier sighing in relief. The other Minotaur standing next to the one that threw the axe then began chasing after the other soldier as he screamed, "NO, NO, STAY AWAY FROM ME!" The Minotaur jumped into the air and brought his axe above his head in an attempt to slam it down onto the running soldier; but instead of killing the soldier, the Minotaur was met with Pyrrha's shield to its face. The Minotaur spun in the air and landed on its back almost to where it first began charging. The shield flew back onto Pyrrha's arm as she grabbed her spear from the ground and readied herself for another attack from the Minotaurs; the two soldiers ran past both Pyrrha and Kratos as they made their way to the elevator. As the elevator descended one of the soldiers shouted, "Thank you for saving us! We will not forget this!" Kratos walked up next to Pyrrha, unsheathed his blades from his back, and readied himself as well. Both warriors glared at the Minotaurs, daring one of them to move…until one finally did. The one that threw the ax began to walk towards the two warriors with one ax still in hand, it then began to charge; Pyrrha and Kratos ran towards the Minotaur as well. Pyrrha jumped in an attempt to stab the Minotaur with her Xiphos only for the beast to block it with its ax. Kratos then launched the Minotaur into the air with his Blades of Chaos, wrapped one blade around the creature's leg, and brought it back down hard against the ground. Pyrrha then finished off the beast by stabbing it through the chest with her bladed weapon. As the first one dissipated into black smoke, the second one was back on its feet ready to fight once again, only to be met with Kratos grabbing the creature by the horns and head butting it to the ground. As the creature fell to the ground, Kratos stepped on top of the beast's chest and attempted to jam his blades down the creature's throat. In a desperate attempt to prevent its death, the Minotaur dropped his ax from his hand and grabbed both of Kratos' arms. The beast struggled, but eventually Kratos ripped his arms away from the creature's grip and slammed his blades down the beast's throat; causing blood to violently squirt out of its mouth. The two then rounded the corner on the other side of the bridge only to be met with another Minotaur that popped out of the ground.

Pyrrha readied herself for another fight, but Kratos rolled his eyes as he picked up an ax that was left behind by the previous half bovine as he said, **"WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!"** He threw the ax at the Minotaur's head, causing it to be cut vertically in half and fall to the ground in defeat. The two then continued on their path towards another elevator; Kratos pulled the switch and they ascended once more.

After the elevator came to a halt, the two walked onto solid ground, which was littered with bodies of dead soldiers, and heard voices in the distance. "YOU! Have reinforcements arrived?"

"Ares has brought these beasts to Athens, without help the city will fall!"

"The gate's destroyed…you'll have to find another way…" they never finished their warning as two Undead Legionnaires jumped down behind the soldiers and killed them both. Pyrrha's knee-jerk reaction was to turn her head away from the direction of the slain soldiers as the Legionnaires roared in triumph over their kills. Kratos paid no mind to the deaths of the soldiers as the shaking of the ground distracted him; something big was coming. Pyrrha noticed it as well and looked around to try and figure out where the shaking was originating.

Kratos unsheathed his blades as he said, **"DO NOT LET YOUR GUARD DOWN FOR A SINGLE SECOND."**

Both warriors stood their ground as they surveyed the area in anticipation for what was to come; Pyrrha was the first to spot it at the corner of her eye. "Kratos, over there!"

Kratos turned his gaze to where Pyrrha pointed: coming up from the nearby cliff first appeared to be a giant metal spiked ball. But there was more to it; the ball moved from side to side as a giant hand appeared next to it. The hand revealed that it belonged to a giant Cyclops as it made its way up from the cliff. The Cyclops wore gray metal armor that covered its shoulders, knees, and head. The creature charged towards the two warriors and attempted to slam its spiked ball onto the warriors, but they both moved out of the way of the Cyclops just in time. The creature pulled its ball from the ground and as it did so, the metal ball began to spin and there seemed to be a sound coming from it as well. The creature then shot its right arm forward to shoot the ball towards Kratos, who rolled out of the way in time. The ball returned to the Cyclops as if it was a yo-yo and continued its rampage. Kratos and Pyrrha both glared at the Cyclops, trying to figure out how to get in close in order to kill it. It was then that Kratos shouted, **"PYRRHA, DISTRACT IT!"** Pyrrha nodded her head as she transformed her weapon into its rifle mode. She shot a bolt of lightning at the Cyclops' weapon, causing the ball to explode and shrapnel to fly everywhere, even into its stomach. The wounded creature roared in anger as it turned towards Pyrrha, charging towards her as she readied to fire again. Kratos however caught up to the creature and dug his blades into its lower back; the Cyclops roared in pain as it tried to grab Kratos, but the Spartan proved to be too quick as he made his way up the Cyclops' back, jumped into the air and drove his blades through the back of the Cyclops' neck. The Cyclops roared in pain once more as Kratos jumped into the air once again to drive his blades through the creature's helmet to lobotomize it. Blood spilled everywhere as Kratos leapt from the creature's head as it fell in defeat. Before Pyrrha had a chance to congratulate Kratos on a job well done, two more Cyclopes appeared; one from the cliffs and another leapt from the rooftop of one of the taller and sturdier building of Athens. Kratos and Pyrrha stood back to back with each other, both facing towards their own giants. Without saying a word to each other, they both rushed towards their own Cyclops; Kratos' Cyclops prepared to fire its spike ball at him, but Kratos reached it before it could fire. The creature instead decided to attempt to slam Kratos with its normal hand, only for Kratos to dodge to the right and plunge his blade into the exposed portion of the Cyclops' back. Kratos climbed onto the beast's shoulders as it tried to grab him, but he jumped out of the way in time and drove his blades into the beast's exposed chest and pushed himself downward, cutting through the beast's hide and causing its guts to spill everywhere. The beast fell to the ground as it disappeared into nothingness.

Pyrrha charged towards her Cyclops as it fired its spike ball at her, only for her to use her semblance to push the ball away from her by a few inches; thus making it look like the Cyclops missed. She slid between the creature's legs while slicing at its ankles; the creature fell to its knee as Pyrrha stood behind it. She then ran up the beast's back, drove her xiphos into the back of its neck, jumped out of the way of its hand, landed on the ground, and stabbed through the bottom of the Cyclops' jaw with her spear, skewing all the way through its head. Pyrrha held up her shield to avoid the blood spilling on her as the creature fell backwards before disappearing into dust.

Both warriors looked around the battlefield for a few seconds waiting for any more creatures to ambush them, but when none arrived Pyrrha sighed in relief. Both warriors re-sheathed their weapons as they walked towards the destroyed gates that the soldiers from earlier shouted from. Pyrrha bowed her head in respect towards the soldiers who lay dead on the other side of the gate. **"WE NEED TO FIND A DIFFERENT ROUTE."** Kratos surveyed every aspect of battlefield until he looked into the sky and saw a ballista resting on a rooftop that pointed towards the inside of the gate; he found his way in, now he just needed a way to get to it. He searched again to find a statue of an old philosopher that reached high above the building, he then formulated a plan to get to the statue and knock it over in order to reach the ballista. All he needed now was a way to the statue. He then found a building that was still in decent shape with no doors guarding it, **"THIS WAY."** The two entered the building and made their way down a hallway until they came across a room with giant solid boxes stacked on top of each other, with some piled on top of not so sturdy boxes. The two split up to search the room for any sign of an exit. As Pyrrha made her way to one corner of the room, she noticed a small slimmer of light escaping from a crack behind a pile of three giant boxes that was supported by one that wasn't so sturdy. She decided to test a theory as she unsheathed her bladed weapon from her back and destroyed the supporting box on the bottom. The stack fell, still on top of each other, to reveal a doorway.

"I think I just found our way out," Pyrrha said delightfully. Kratos made his way to where Pyrrha stood and looked around for any more stacks that were reminiscent to the one Pyrrha destroyed. He then found another stack of boxes supported by an incomplete box at the bottom near the entrance and destroyed it as well. They then traversed the top of each stack until they reached the doorway. On the other side lay a doorway that was blocked by a pillar of orange light with two statues of Zeus standing on each side. Both warriors jumped down and landed in front of the altar. Kratos and Pyrrha walked up the steps of the altar until an image of a beautiful woman appeared in front of them through the light.

 **"APHRODITE."**

 _"Kratos, the gods are pleased with you and your protégé's progress. But your current skills will not be enough to defeat the minions of Ares. I offer you the power to freeze your enemies where they stand, but you must earn such a gift."_

While Aphrodite spoke with Kratos about this power, Pyrrha heard a hissing sound coming from a crate that was held in the air by chains. "Kratos…" Pyrrha said in a warning tone, causing Kratos to turn his head toward the direction of the hissing noise as well. On top of the crate slithered a pink and red colored Gorgon, the snakes on her head hissed as she screeched at the two warriors. She then crawled onto the side of the box and disappeared into a dark portal, only to reappear in front of them slowly, showing off her exposed breasts as she slithered from side to side.

 _"Medusa, the Queen of the Gorgons. Bring me her head Kratos, and I will give you the ability to wield its power."_

As Medusa laughed at the challengers that stood in front of her, Kratos tightened the grip on his blades as Pyrrha readied her weapons against the Queen of the Gorgons.

Medusa shot a wave of green light from her eyes at both warriors as they both rolled out of the way to avoid being turned to stone. Kratos swung his blades towards Medusa's direction, managing to land a few blows on her and cutting her skin. Medusa screamed in pain as she quickly swung her tail at Kratos only for the Spartan to block it. She then make a b-line towards Pyrrha in an attempt to scratch her with her claws, but Pyrrha held up her shield in time as Medusa's claws scratched her shield; Pyrrha then slashed at Medusa's torso and landed a cut on her stomach. Medusa screamed in pain again as she quickly distanced herself from Pyrrha and shot a stream of green light from her eyes again. Pyrrha and Kratos rolled out of the way again, but Kratos decided to roll towards Medusa as she finished the glare. Kratos grabbed Medusa by the face and slammed her down into the ground. As she struggled to get back up, Kratos grabbed Medusa by the top and bottom end of her head and twisted it violently, causing a loud crack to be heard. He then twisted the head the other way and ripped Medusa's head from her body, causing blood to poor everywhere before turning to dust.

Aphrodite spoke once again as she witnessed the death of Medusa, _"_ _Freeze and destroy them all with Medusa's Gaze and the power of the Gorgon will be yours."_

"Destroy them all? What does she mean by…oh…" Pyrrha realized what Aphrodite meant when three Minotaurs popped up from pits of darkness from the ground. Kratos then held up Medusa's head and activated the creature's gaze as the Minotaurs swung their axes towards the Spartan, only to be turned to stone with their weapons nowhere near the pale warrior. Pyrrha took the opportunity and destroyed each statue with her xiphos. Six more Minotaurs appeared, not at the same time, and the process repeated itself until Aphrodite was convinced that Kratos and Pyrrha were ready.

 _"Go with the Gods Kratos and Athena's young warrior. Go forth in the name of Olympus."_

* * *

 **Author's Note: HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! A few days late to say it, but whatever. Anyways, after much time deliberating with myself about what to do with this story and with some of you actually interested in seeing this through I decided...screw it, I'll continue this thing. As mentioned though, school will be starting up for me soon so don't expect this story to come out as quickly as it usually does. Anyways, hope you enjoy the first ACTUAL CHAPTER of this story!**


	7. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own God of War or RWBY. God of War belongs to Santa Monica Studios, while RWBY belongs to RoosterTeeth.**

The image of the Goddess disappeared and the two warriors walked down the hallway that led to a ladder. They climbed the ladder to a higher level where a ballista was set up with a lever close by; Kratos pulled the lever, causing the ballista to turn towards a secure wooden door. He then stepped away from the lever, pulled back on the arrow in the ballista until it couldn't be pulled back anymore, then kicked the switch with enough force to cause the arrow to shoot towards the door like a bullet from a gun; thus destroying the door and revealing another hallway. Both warriors walked down the hall towards what seemed to be a dead-end; they both searched the wall for any signs of cracks or weaknesses of some sort so they could use the ballista again, only to find none. They walked back down the hallway and came across another ladder that led up to a balcony. As soon as they reached the open air and overlooked the battlefield they fought off the Cyclopes, six Armored Undead Legionnaires appeared before them by either pits of darkness or from climbing up the balcony itself. The two warriors easily dispatched of the creatures; Kratos and Pyrrha then began to climb a semi-destroyed wall that lay behind them downward to reach a ledge that rested behind the statue that Kratos wanted to get to. As he placed his legs on the back of the statue and his own back onto a column to support him, an idea came to mind. He knew that Pyrrha could handle herself on the battlefield, but he didn't know anything about her strength.

 **"PYRRHA."**

"Yes?"

 **"PUSH THIS STATUE OVER."**

"I'm sorry…what?"

 **"SHOW ME THE STRENGTH THAT IMPRESSED ATHENA."**

"O…k…"

Pyrrha walked cautiously past Kratos as she positioned herself between the statue and the pillar that would act as her support; she placed her feet onto the back of the statue and pushed with all her might. The statue didn't move at first but after a few seconds of grunting, the statue began to wobble out of place. Pyrrha pushed with all her being before she roared herself; the statue finally fell over, causing the head to break off on impact and roll underneath the ladder the warriors needed to reach. Pyrrha fell to her knees trying to catch her breath; she had never lifted or moved anything that heavy before and would have struggled to stand if Kratos hadn't offered his hand for assistance.

 **"GOOD JOB."**

"Thanks...oh man...If only Nora or Yang were here…"

 **"WHO?"**

"Friends of mine whose specialty is brute strength."

The two walked over towards a nearby roof and lowered themselves to the ground; they then made their way towards the destroyed statue's head and climbed up the ladder, up onto the roof of the building, and reached the ballista. Kratos launched an arrow that had rope attached to it for them to climb across; but before the two warriors even touched the rope, two Undead Legionnaires appeared from the ground behind them. As Kratos unsheathed his blades, Pyrrha noticed that the rope they had just launched was wobbling. She looked towards the direction of the arrow that was launched through the scope of her rifle and saw a horde of Legionnaires making their way across the rope via the arrow they shot.

"We've got company."

 **"HOW MANY?"**

"It looks like there are eighteen more of them heading this way."

 **"WE CANNOT CUT THE ROPE, WE STILL NEED TO GET ACROSS."**

"I'll handle the ones heading across the rope."

 **"CAN YOUR WEAPON REACH THEM FROM HERE?"**

Pyrrha pulled the trigger of her weapon, causing a bolt of lightning to fire from Miló and disintegrate the entire hoarde. "Yes, it can" she said as she turned around to join Kratos against the two Legionnaires that stood before them.

The two Legionnaires rushed both Pyrrha and Kratos: the one that rushed Pyrrha slashed its sword downward, back upward, and went for a stab but only made contact with Pyrrha's shield every time. When the tip of the sword hit Pyrrha's shield, she parried and slashed at the creature herself, hit the creature's face with a spinning heel kick, and stabbed her xiphos through the creature's chest. She then kicked the creature off of the blade of her weapon as it disappeared into nothingness.

The Legionnaire that rushed Kratos never had a chance to slash his weapon more than once at the Spartan as the Blades of Chaos blocked and parried the creature's sword. Kratos swung his arms in front of him, causing the blades on both of his arms to come flying in at both sides of the creature at a rapid speed and bisecting the creature from the waist up. The upper half of the Legionnaire flew across the roof with blood spilling everywhere as both halves disintegrated into nothingness as well.

The two grabbed onto the rope and started climbing across the gap; as they reached the end of the line, Kratos let go of the rope with Pyrrha following suit. Both warriors landed in a room filled with the bodies of seven dead Athenian soldiers littered all over the room. Pyrrha gasped at the image before her as she stood upright; she then armed herself as the thundering noise of a wooden door being slammed behind her caught her attention. Kratos, however, came across a wall with the symbol of a helmet on it that possessed a wooden handle at the bottom.

 **"PYRRHA!"** the Spartan shouted, catching the attention of the young Huntress. She re-sheathed her weapons and grabbed onto the handle next to Kratos; both warriors grunted as they both started to lift the giant stone door. With the door finally over their heads, Kratos and Pyrrha released one final breath as they shoved the door upwards and revealed the content of what lay beyond the stone door: the very hallway that possessed the ballista they used to destroy the original wooden door.

"Did…did we just go in a giant circle?"

 **"YES, WE DID. IT WAS NECESSARY."**

"How, exactly?"

Kratos then turned toward the door behind them, the same door that continued to be pounded against by a strong force on the other side. **"WE NEED TO GET THROUGH THIS DOOR. HOWEVER, THE STONE DOOR BLOCKING THIS ONE WOULD HAVE DESTROYED THE ARROW FROM THE BALLISTA. SO NOW, WE CAN DESTROY BOTH THIS DOOR…AND WHAT LIES BEHIND IT."**

"If you say so."

The two warriors made their way back to the ballista at the end of the hallway; Pyrrha readied her weapons in case anything got past the arrows. Kratos loaded the ballista, pulled back, and sent the arrow flying, shattering the door and revealing four very angry Minotaurs. The Minotaurs marched down the hallway as the ballista reloaded itself with another arrow; Kratos pulled back, launched the arrow, and sent the first Minotaur flying backwards, killing it. The second Minotaur reached the halfway mark down the hall as the ballista reloaded, fired, and killed it as well. The other two, having ducked out of the way of their flying bovine brethren, charged towards the two warriors. Kratos backed away from the ballista and charged towards the remaining two Minotaurs with Pyrrha hot on his heels. Kratos rolled past the two beasts and activated Poseidon's Rage, shocking the beasts and causing them to fall to their backs. As one attempted to stand up, Pyrrha ran past the beast at such an alarming speed the beast didn't know what happened as Pyrrha crouched behind it in a blur. The Minotaur was about to slam its axe onto Pyrrha but never got to as its head fell to the ground. Pyrrha stood and watched Kratos as he finished the final Minotaur by grabbing the creature by the neck and slammed his blades all the way through the beast's mouth, causing it to choke to death on its own blood.

As the creatures faded, Pyrrha and Kratos headed towards a ladder that lay across a small chasm, jumped across it and slid down it towards solid ground. As they walked away from the ladder, Pyrrha noticed that they had finally made it around the gate where the previous two warriors were slain by the Undead Legionnaires. They then made their way up a bridge decorated with a tile floor, torches, and plants that were separated from each other; and at the center of the path lay an image of an owl carved into the ground. As the two warriors stepped on the owl, the image began to glow: a bright light began to shine from the very image of the owl to behold a beautiful orange-haired woman wearing a green, thin, see-through veil across her chest that exposed her breasts. She wore the same material for her legs, but only her right leg was "covered" while the left was exposed for the world to see. Pyrrha both marveled at the fact that even in this era, holograms were made possible…but then rolled her eyes at the revealing nature of the woman who stood before them, "Even Yang is considered 'modestly dressed' compared to this woman" she thought to herself.

As Kratos reached for his blades, the voice of the woman spoke, "do not fear, Kratos and Pyrrha. I am the Oracle of Athens, here to help you defeat Ares."

Kratos released the grip on his weapon and reached towards the image of the woman; he was stunned when he saw that his hand passed right through her chest. He pulled his hand back as she began to speak again.

"Find my temple to the East, and I will show you both how to murder a God." She said as she faded away.

The two warriors looked at each other in astonishment as they continued to make their way across the tile bridge. They walked up a small flight of stairs and came across a destroyed balcony that not only possessed an Omega sign on the ground, but an area that overlooked the battle that was currently being waged: Ares stood tall over the tallest mountains as he continued to decimate the Athenian army that attempted to fight against him. He smiled and laughed at their pitiful attempts to do him harm as he stomped his feet on top of a small battalion. He reached down, scooped up a group of soldiers, and threw them across the battlefield as if they were toys.

A deep scowl appeared on Kratos' face as both he and Pyrrha walked towards the edge of the balcony as they witnessed Ares laying waste to the poor army. Ares continued to roar in triumph as Kratos said aloud, **"GOD OF WAR…I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN YOU. FOR WHAT YOU DID THAT NIGHT, THIS CITY WILL BE YOUR GRAVE."**

As Kratos finished his sentence, Ares turned toward their direction and merely smiled at what he saw. He was amused at the image of the two warriors that walked into Athens. He scoffed as he turned his back on the two warriors and continued his rampage on the city.

* * *

 **Author's Note: I'M BAAAAAAAAAACK! And...HOLY CRAP THIS THING GOT POPULAR WHILE I WAS GONE! To those of you wondering, no I'm not off of school yet, I just FINALLY have a break between homework sessions. Capstone classes are NOT fun. Anyways, here's chapter 2 of this story. Hope you all like it! Also, I just want to say a big thank you to those who have been reading and continue to read this.**


	8. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own "God of War" or "RWBY". "God of War" belongs to Santa Monica Studios while "RWBY" belongs to RoosterTeeth.**

The scowl on Kratos' face deepened even further as Ares turned his back on the two warriors; the fact that Ares had the nerve to consider Kratos and Pyrrha insignificant was an insult to the once proud and ruthless Spartan Captain.

"He underestimates us," Pyrrha stated.

 **"** **IT WILL NOT MATTER WHAT HE THINKS OF US WHEN HE IS DEAD. LET'S GO."**

The two warriors followed a pathway to the left that led to a city; as they reached the city, a group of people attempted to run towards them to flee from the rampage of Ares' army…only to be stopped in their tracks as a flaming rock flew into a nearby building. The building fell to the ground and landed on top of the citizens; screams were heard and then there was silence. Pyrrha's knee-jerk reaction to the situation that unfolded in front of them was stepping forward and extending her arm, but when the building fell she clenched her hand because she was too late.

 **"** **THERE IS NO TIME TO MOURN, WE MUST FIND A WAY TO THE ORACLE."** Kratos surveyed the area until he came across a tunnel to their left that led into the mountain. **"THIS WAY."**

As the two ran into the tunnel, another fireball crashed into the mountainside and caused a metal gate to slam down behind them, trapping them inside. Inside the mountain was a pressure plate system that was connected to a metal gate…as well as two Minotaurs with axes and hammers in their hands. The two warriors unsheathed their weapons and prepared for battle: Kratos swung his blades into the Minotaurs, but one of them blocked his strikes. He then slammed both of his blades onto the ground, causing them both to fall to their backs. Pyrrha took the opportunity to jump onto one of the fallen Minotaur and jammed her spear through the beast's maw, the creature went limp and dropped its weapons as blood spilled from the back of its throat and disappeared into nothingness. Kratos finished off the second Minotaur by spinning his blades in a circular motion at incredible speeds, that the second Minotaur was unable to block his strikes. The beast was sent flying through the air before it hit the nearby wall with enough force that a loud crack could be heard; the creature fell to the ground in defeat before disappearing as well. Kratos and Pyrrha looked around in case anything else attempted to attack, but when nothing did they re-sheathed their weapons.

They both walked over to the pedestal with caution, the two looked at each other, grabbed their weapons just in case something happened, and nodded at each other. Pyrrha stepped on the pedestal and both warriors were relieved when they saw the metal gate ahead of them open up. As the two walked away from the pedestal, the gate closed at such a speed that they didn't even have time to react. The two looked at the pedestal and then at the gate and groaned almost simultaneously as they realized their error.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

 **"** **WE SHOULD HAVE KEPT ONE OF THOSE MINOTAURS ALIVE SO WE COULD LURE THEM TO THE PEDESTAL AND TURN THEM TO STONE."**

Pyrrha thought for a minute before perking her head up, "I have an idea." Pyrrha brought out her weapon once again and transformed it into its rifle form and fired at the gate, blowing it to pieces. With the pathway now open to them, Kratos and Pyrrha exited the tunnel and fought their way through the city; fighting their way through hordes of Undead Archers, Gorgons, and Minotaurs. The two eventually came across a barricade made of rock and wood at the end of the pathway; Pyrrha and Kratos climbed on top of the barricade to see a giant hole in the ground with the rest of the road on the other side. Pyrrha looked to the right of the barricade only to find there was a long fall into the sea while Kratos found that the other end of the barricade merged into the side of the mountain.

 **"** **THIS BARRICADE HAS TO GO."**

"I agree, but we still need a way across the chasm" she said as her attention was captured by two long ropes dangling above the chasm, "and those ropes are our way across."

 **"** **WE'LL NEED A RUNNING START, BUT IT'S DOABLE."**

Kratos and Pyrrha backed away from the barricade and went to work on its destruction. As the last of the rock and wood crumbled to dust, Kratos backed away from the scene and readied himself for the jump: he sprinted towards the chasm, jumped when he reached the edge, and grabbed the first rope. Using the momentum from the jump, he swung his body back and forth like a pendulum in order to reach the second rope. He let go of the first rope, flew through the air, and grabbed onto the second one. As the first rope swung back and forth, Pyrrha timed the swinging of the rope in her mind, readied herself, and ran. As the rope flew towards Pyrrha, she jumped just as Kratos did, and grabbed the rope. As Kratos made his way to the other side, Pyrrha grabbed and leapt onto the second rope, and landed next to Kratos.

The two warriors continued on the path as they rounded a corner and arrived at a flight of stairs that led to the town square. As the two ran up the stairs, another flaming rock flew into one of the buildings, sending debris everywhere and people running for their lives. Kratos continued up the stairs while Pyrrha corralled the fleeing citizens underneath buildings that were still standing, instructing them to stay calm and to remain still. They reached the top of the stairs and beheld the sight townspeople running from a bluish-gray Cyclops holding a giant club made of bone.

Kratos unsheathed his blades as he said, **"I'LL TAKE CARE OF THE CYCLOPS, WHILE YOU MAKE SURE THE PEOPLE STAY OUT OF MY WAY."**

"Got it," she answered.

Kratos ran towards the Cyclops as Pyrrha ran towards the people to lead them away from the action. As the Cyclops slammed his club onto the ground, Kratos rolled to the right to avoid the attack. He slashed at the creature's leg a few times and caused the beast to stumble to the ground; however, it recovered quickly and decided to slam its fist towards Kratos. The Spartan saw it coming and sidestepped the attack, drove his blade into the beast's shoulder, climbed onto its back, stood on its shoulders, grabbed the creature by the eyelid, drove his blade into its eye (causing the beast to scream in pain), and stomped on the blade to drive it further in. As the Cyclops' body fell backward and disappeared, Kratos grabbed his blade out of the hole he created in its head and landed gently on the ground. Pyrrha finished leading the townspeople to safety when two more Cyclops of the same kind fell from the sky and into the town square, causing the ground to shake. Pyrrha ran to Kratos' side in preparation for the ensuing battle: Kratos activated Poseidon's rage, shocking the creatures and causing them to stumble back, but not kill them. Both of the Cyclopses roared in anger at the magic that was used on them.

"I didn't think it was possible, but I think you made them even more angry."

 **"** **CYCLOPS ARE THE OFFSRPING OF POSEIDON, THEY'RE PROBABLY INSULTED THAT I USED THEIR FATHER'S TECHNIQUE AGAINST THEM."**

"That would do it."

One of the Cyclopses slammed their clubs towards the warriors while the other decided to swing his club upwards in an attempt to hit the two warriors…both missed. As the warriors stood separated from each other, they both charged at their own creatures.

The Cyclops that Pyrrha charged grabbed its club with both hands, laid it on the ground, and started swinging it side to side. Pyrrha jumped and flipped over every single strike until she landed on the Cyclops' arms. She slashed at the Cyclops' face a few times before using her sword to uppercut the Cyclops; the Cyclops fell backward as Pyrrha jumped into the air, changed her weapon to its spear mode, and impaled the Cyclops through the eye. Pyrrha held up her shield as blood spilled from the creature's eye and disappeared into nothingness.

The Cyclops that Kratos charged unleashed a volley of strikes with his club; the Spartan dodged every single strike until he blocked the final strike with his Blades of Chaos. A small crater formed underneath Kratos' feet as he blocked it; the Cyclops pushed down on its club to try and overpower the Ghost of Sparta, but Kratos stood his ground, parried the attack, swung his the chains of his blade around the creature's neck, pulled down and slammed its head onto the ground. As the beast shook the cobwebs from its head, Kratos took this opportunity to jump towards the Cyclops, drove his blades into its chest, climbed up to stare into the creature's eye, and drove his hand into the eyeball. The beast flailed around in pain as it attempted to grab Kratos and throw him, but it was too late; Kratos pulled the creature's eyeball out of its socket as blood squirted everywhere. The unfortunate beast screamed in pain as it bled to death and faded from existence.

The two warriors sheathed their weapons and explored the town square for any signs of where to go next; Kratos noticed a pathway into the mountains above the town while Pyrrha discovered a closed metal gate with a handle on the other side as well as what looked to be a hole above the gate. Pyrrha looked back to see Kratos still surveying the area to figure out a way to get to the path in the mountains; with his back still turned, Pyrrha used her semblance to bend the bars out of the way so she could walk through it. Kratos heard the sound of metal bending and turned around with one hand on his blade ready to attack, but stopped as he saw Pyrrha creating an opening from the gate. He stood in amazement at what she had done, but shook his head to clear his mind.

Kratos marched towards Pyrrha as he demanded, **"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU HAD SPECIAL ABILITIES?"**

"Busted" Pyrrha thought to herself as she flinched at Kratos' question.

 **"** **WELL?"** he demanded again.

"I'm sorry…but you never really asked." She answered as innocently as she could while rubbing the back of her hair in nervousness.

 **"** **EXPLAIN YOURSELF. NOW. WHAT ARE YOU EXACTLY? ARE YOU A DEMI-GOD?"**

"If only it were that simple," she said as she prepared an explanation. "In my home, warriors are trained not only in combat, but also in attempting to discover and unlock what our 'special abilities' are. We call these special abilities our 'semblance'. Once our semblance has been discovered, we train constantly to hone and master it. I keep mine hidden because the fewer who know about it, the less likely it will be for someone to discover how to beat me."

 **"** **I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU NOT TO HOLD ANYTHING BACK."**

"In a way, I haven't. In battle, I use my semblance as subtle as I possibly can."

Kratos looked at the hole in the gate that Pyrrha had created, then back at the mountains: he realized that the longer he stood there arguing with the young woman the more time he wasted in searching for the Oracle, something he could not afford. He exhaled as he said, **"WHEN THIS IS OVER, WE ARE GOING TO TALK MORE OF THIS. BUT FOR NOW, LET'S GO. HOPEFULLY THIS PATH WILL LEAD US TO THE ORACLE'S TEMPLE."**

As the two ran through the tunnel, soldiers of Athens could be seen running towards the two from a tunnel entrance on the right in an attempt to escape the carnage. They had almost made it towards the two warriors until the tunnel collapsed on them, killing them all instantly. This forced Kratos and Pyrrha to take the pathway to the left, which led to a wooden gate. Kratos grabbed the handle at the bottom of the gate and flung it open, allowing the two to continue their quest. The two warriors exited the tunnel and found themselves on the rooftops of Athens; they found a building with vines attached to the wall and climbed up. As they climbed, sounds of steel meeting steel rang in their ears, battle cries of brave soldiers of Athens fighting against Undead Legionnaires could be heard from all around, screams of citizens running through the burning city echoed throughout the streets, and Ares could be seen in the background laying waste to Athens with smile upon his face. As Pyrrha witnessed Ares destroy a building with that look on his face, the young Huntress clenched her teeth in frustration as she was reminded once again of Cinder.

"I will not fail a second time" was what she thought as she and Kratos reached the end of the vine trail and jumped onto a nearby balcony.

The two walked into the building that the balcony was attached to and came across a room with dead soldiers littered everywhere and wounded soldier crawling on the ground. Pyrrha rushed over to help the man back up to his feet while Kratos stood back and noticed something moving across the ground. A small black pit moved quickly across the ground, and two curved blades emerged from it in a spinning motion that was headed towards Pyrrha. Pyrrha heard the clanging of metal, quickly picked the soldier up bridal-style, and rolled out of the way of the spinning blades before they could reach her. She placed the injured soldier next to a nearby wall as the creature that possessed the curved blades revealed itself from the black pit: a Wraith. It glared at both of the warriors as the two unsheathed their weapons once more; the Wraith laughed as two more of its kind emerged from behind it as well as multiple Undead Archers and Armored Undead Legionnaires.

Pyrrha readied herself as Kratos merely walked forward with his blades in hand, closed his eyes, exhaled, and thought to himself, **"NOW IS AS GOOD A TIME AS ANY TO TEST THAT TECHNIQUE."** As he opened his eyes, a bolt of lightning struck him; the light was so bright that Pyrrha shielded her eyes from the blast. When she reopened her eyes, her jaw dropped at the sight that stood before her: Kratos was now covered from head to toe in a field of blue and white energy that surged with electricity and resembled that of traditional Spartan armor. The Wraiths wasted no time in attacking, but Kratos' blades were faster; his blades cut through the Wraiths' armor like a hot knife through butter. As the Wraiths disappeared, the Armored Legionnaires attempted to attack as well, but Kratos rolled out of the way and slashed at the creatures with such speed and precision that they had no way of blocking the attacks. Limbs scattered everywhere as Kratos continued his attack on the multiple Armored Legionnaire before finally killing them. He then held up his blades in defense as he saw two fire arrows approaching him from the Undead Archers; he glared at the Archers before charging at them as they reached for more arrows from their quiver. Unfortunately for them, Kratos reached the two before their arrows even touched the string. He grabbed them both by the neck, slammed one down to the ground and crushed its head with his foot, lifted the other one above his head and roared as he tore the creature in half. As the final two creatures dissipated, Kratos looked around to see if any other creatures dared oppose him after that display of brutality, but when none appeared he released the form.

"Ok…WHAT WAS THAT?" Pyrrha asked as the fight concluded.

 **"** **WHEN YOU'VE BEEN IN SERVICE TO THE GODS OF OLYMPUS AS LONG AS I HAVE, YOU TEND TO PICK UP A FEW THINGS."**

Pyrrha crossed her arms as she tauntingly asked, "What was that about 'not holding anything back' that you mentioned earlier?"

 **"** **THE TECHNIQUE IS NOT YET PERFECTED. AS OF NOW, I'VE ONLY BEEN ABLE TO HOLD THE FORM FOR THREE MINUTES. AFTER THREE MINUTES, IT DISSIPATES ON ITS OWN AND RETURNS ME TO MY NORMAL STRENGTH AND SPEED. THE ONLY TIME IT DOESN'T DISAPPEAR BY ITSELF IS WHEN I RELEASE THE FORM MYSELF AFTER A SHORT BATTLE."**

Pyrrha held her hand to her chin to think about what had been told to her about this new ability that Kratos just showed: the way how he explained the technique, it almost sounded like a semblance. But it couldn't be a semblance: the only two individuals in this era that knew of the term were Khronos and Athena. She then remembered the previous statement, 'when you've been in service to the Gods of Olympus as long as I have'; she concluded that the technique wasn't a semblance, but a gift from the Gods for his years of service to them. The atmosphere was broken as the wounded soldier from earlier started coughing. Pyrrha walked over to him to check up on him; the man struggled to stand up and would have fallen to the ground again had Pyrrha not caught him. "Easy there soldier, you're safe now. You need to rest."

"No…I'm not. No one's safe…while Ares attacks. I must…defend…my city…my home…" the soldier said as he struggled to stand up again.

"You're in no condition to fight…"

 **"** **LET HIM STAND. HE STILL HAS THE WILL TO FIGHT; AS LONG AS HE HAS THAT, HE CAN STILL PARTAKE IN THIS BATTLE."**

"You…" the soldier said weakly as he focused on the man who encouraged him, "you're the Ghost of Sparta…" He tried to stand but it was no use, he passed out from exhaustion. Pyrrha gently laid him against the wall once again before exiting with Kratos through a doorway that led outside.

As they exited the room, a group of soldiers ran across a bridge away from the warriors as one shouted, "GO, GO, GO! Ares has breached the city!" "When will reinforcements arrive?" Before another could speak, a flaming rock struck the bridge, destroying it and all who ran across it. The two warriors fought their way through several Undead Archers and Wraiths before finally being able to make their way across the destroyed bridge. After they crossed the destroyed path, something interesting caught Kratos' sight…a temple that wasn't on fire or destroyed in any way, shape, or form. The Spartan walked towards the temple with Pyrrha right behind him. He walked down the hallway until he came to a corridor with a tall wooden door at the end.

 **"** **PYRRHA."**

"Yes?"

 **"** **YOU THINK YOUR WEAPON CAN DESTROY THAT DOOR?"**

Pyrrha nodded her head as she transformed her weapon into its rifle form, aimed, and fired at the giant door. Wood splattered everywhere as the lightning struck the door and created an opening. The two warriors walked through the hallway as Pyrrha asked, "I don't get it…out of all the buildings in this city, how is this one still standing?" Her question was soon answered as they reached the end of the hallway: the room was decorated with gold on the floor along with tall, golden statues standing next to the doorway, and images of the mightiest of all the Gods plastered everywhere. This was a temple dedicated to Zeus, the King of Olympus. Pyrrha stood in amazement as she wandered around the temple while Kratos walked onto the altar of the temple as Zeus' face emerged from the blue light.

 **"** **LORD ZEUS."**

 _ **"Kratos, you grow stronger as your journey continues, but if you are to succeed in your quest, you will need my aide. I offer you the power of the greatest of all the gods, the Father of Olympus. I offer you the power of Zeus. Take this weapon Kratos, take this power, and use it to defeat your enemies."**_

As Zeus said his speech, Kratos felt energy building up into his hand; that energy turned out to be lightning itself. Not just any lightning, this was Zeus' lightning...his very fury incarnate. The power that radiated from that single bolt of lightning was like nothing Kratos had ever felt before.

Pyrrha rejoined Kratos as Zeus departed, _**"You have done well, Kratos. Go with the gods; go forth in the name of Olympus."**_

* * *

 **Author's Note: HELLO MY FRIENDS WE MEET AGAIN! IT'S BEEN A WHILE WHERE SHOULD WE BEGIN? Kudos to you if you know where that song lyric is from. Anyways, it feels like an eternity since I last posted one of these things. Again, just like last time, I just found a break in between homework sessions. Hope you enjoy the newest chapter!  
OH, one more thing, a guest asked me on January 29th if I was planning on doing "Ghost of Sparta" based on the sneak peek I did way back in Prologue 3 about how Pyrrha was going to be in "God of War II" and "God of War III". Answer: Yes, I do have plans for Pyrrha to show up in "Ghost of Sparta". It'll be a long while before I do it, but I do intend on doing that game as well. Reason being: that game explains SO MUCH stuff as to why Kratos is so bitter towards Olympus. To leave it out would be a crime.**


	9. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own "God of War" or RWBY. "God of War" belongs to Santa Monica Studios, while "RWBY" belongs to RoosterTeeth.**

A stone door lowered slowly as the image of Zeus faded from the blue light; before the door lowered all the way down, Pyrrha looked at the walls of the temple one last time and noticed images of human soldiers rallying themselves against Zeus himself. This confused her and was about to ask Kratos about the portraits…but was unable to when she saw him walk through the newly formed hole that led back onto the battlefield. The two warriors made their way back to the entrance of the temple and were confronted with flaming arrows that were shot in front of their feet, they stopped in their tracks and turned to see four Undead Archers aiming their bows directly at them from the rooftops. Kratos summoned bolts of lightning in both of his hands and hurled them at the archers while Pyrrha transformed her weapon into its rifle mode and fired twice. After finishing off the creatures, the two made their way into a nearby building and climbed up a wooden ladder that led to the roof with a Minotaur and multiple Harpies circling from above. Kratos shot down the Harpies with Zeus' Fury while Pyrrha made quick work of the Minotaur; they continued their way across the rooftops fighting off the same creatures until they arrived at an area where there was a chasm separating them from another building. Across the chasm was a soldier holding on to a lever for dear life while muttering some nonsense to himself. Beneath the edge of the building was a bridge that was still in tact and could be traveled across but was folded beneath the building, with the only way across being for the man to release the lever.

 **"** **YOU!"** Kratos called out, **"WE MUST GET ACROSS. RELEASE THE LEVER, EXTEND THE BRIDGE!"**

Almost maniacally the man shouted back, "no, NO! I won't let them get me! These…monsters! They'll…they'll tear me apart!"

 **"** **COWARD"** Kratos muttered to himself.

"What do we do now Kratos?" Pyrhha asked.

 **"** **COWARDS DIE MANY TIMES BEFORE THEIR DEATH"** he said as he summoned a bolt of lightning into his hand and prepared to strike down the cowardly soldier.

"Kratos, no!" Pyrrha said as she grabbed the Spartan's arm to prevent him from killing the soldier.

 **"** **THAT BRIDGE IS OUR ONLY WAY ACROSS AND THAT COWARD REFUSES TO RELEASE THE LEVER!"**

"There is another way, let me handle it. He doesn't have to die!"

Kratos looked at Pyrrha with fury in his eyes then back at the cowardly soldier, his eyes then widened as he remembered the abilities that Pyrrha possessed. He realized that this proved to be an excellent chance to see what else she was capable of. He allowed the lightning to dissipate, lowered his arm, and sternly looked at Pyrrha as he said, **"YOU GET ONE CHANCE AT THIS."**

Pyrrha nodded at this and stepped forward towards the chasm; she lifted her right arm with her hand outstretched and her eyes closed, concentrating on the metal of the lever and the gears connected with it. She opened her eyes and with a flick of her wrist she caused the lever to move and sent the soldier flying into a nearby pillar, knocking him out cold. "I'm sorry" is what she shouted as the bridge began to rise.

 **"** **DON'T EVER APOLOGIZE FOR SOMETHING AS TRIVIAL AS THAT."**

Pyrrha shot at the wall that was behind the soldier and opened up another passage as they made their way across the bridge. They entered the building and fought of six wraiths as they made their way through the looping hallways; at the end of the hallway was a room filled with destroyed statues and vases, but beyond those trinkets lay a circular lever that resembled the one inside the mountain with the Minotaurs. Both warriors stepped on the lever and found themselves descending to a lower level. They both stepped off the platform as soon as they hit solid ground, exited out of the mountainside and found themselves to be above the town square. Multiple flaming rocks were seen flying into the mountainside as they noticed that the walkway they came across was all but destroyed had it not been for a wooden plank that still connected one side to the other. Across the chasm, Kratos and Pyrrha saw the Oracle and two Athenian soldiers attempting to fight off multiple Harpies as best as they could.

 **"** **ORACLE!"** Kratos called out.

The woman in see-through clothing turned to face the origin of the sound and was relieved to see the two warriors sent by Athena, "Kratos! Pyrrha Nikos! Praise Athena you've arrived!" As the Oracle ran from the Harpies, another flaming rock struck the mountainside, killing the soldiers and most of the Harpies in the process, and causing the Oracle to fall to the ground. The two Harpies that survived went to grab the woman with their talons, but Pyrrha was quick on the draw as she fired at the foul beasts.

"Stay where you are and stay down Oracle, we'll come to you!"

Kratos and Pyrrha carefully crossed the beam towards the Oracle; Pyrrha helped the Oracle back to her feet while Kratos took the lead as they walked up the stairs into the mountains. Seven Armored Undead Legionnaires confronted the trio; Kratos and Pyrrha unsheathed their weapons once more and made quick work of the creatures. They continued to run up another flight of stairs until they reached a stone bridge that led to the Oracle's Temple. After they crossed the bridge, they were immediately greeted by a horde of Harpies that flew from the entrance of the temple; one Harpy flew straight for the Oracle as the two warriors shot at the group that attacked from above, fortunately a bolt of lightning from Kratos struck it down.

 **"** **DO NOT LET A SINGLE HARPY GRAB THE ORACLE!"** Kratos shouted towards Pyrrha as two Gorgons slithered from separate pits of darkness.

"Kratos!" Pyrrha shouted as she saw the emerging serpentine women.

 **"** **OH FOR THE LOVE OF…YOU DEAL WITH THE HARPIES! I'LL DEAL WITH THE GORGONS."** He said as he unsheathed his blades from his back.

The first Gorgon leapt towards Kratos with its claws outstretched with the intent to pierce his chest, but Kratos blocked the attack with his blades, parried, kicked the Gorgon in the gut, and sent it flying into the second Gorgon just as it finally slithered out of the pit. He ran towards them both and rolled to the side as one attempted to use its tail to attack and activated Poseidon's Rage to finish them off quickly.

While Kratos fought with the Gorgons, Pyrrha was shooting at every Harpy in the sky and slashed at the ones that got close to either her or the Oracle. One by one the Harpies fell from the sky until at last there was a reprieve. The silence was short lived though, as the sound of laughter was heard not too far away from their battle; the warrior's instincts were to turn quickly towards the sound with their weapons still firm in their hands and were surprised to see what the origin of the laughter was: an old man wearing a dirty brown robe with a shovel in one hand, one blind eye and one gray eye, and worms coming out of his long white hair appearing from a hole in the ground.

" _Good, my children. Good. Athena has chosen wisely, I knew it was so._ "

 **"** **WHO ARE YOU?"**

 _"So, you have the blades...the skin as pale as the moon. Then there is you, child: whose hair is as crimson as the Red Sea. You are the ones indeed…perhaps Athens will survive at that. Hahahaha…but be careful, don't want either of you dying before I'm done with this grave."_

This peaked Kratos' curiosity, and so he walked towards the old man, **"A GRAVE? IN THE MIDDLE OF A BATTLE? WHO WILL OCCUPY IT, OLD MAN?"**

 _"You will my son. Oh I've got a lot of digging to do indeed; all will be revealed in due time, and when all appears to be lost Kratos…I will be there to help."_

Leaving the Old Gravedigger behind, the three walked up the stairs of the temple with Pyrrha asking the Oracle, "I don't suppose you know who that was, do you?"

"No. I've never seen him before in my entire life."

 **"** **WE'LL WORRY ABOUT HIM LATER. WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE, ORACLE?"**

"We must head to the courtyard located behind the temple. There I will reveal the means of how to slay Ares and how to get to it."

The three rushed into the temple and were greeted by another horde of Harpies that emerged out of two different holes in the walls, "There has to be a way to cover up those holes" Pyrrha said as she fired at the Harpies with her rifle.

"Those statutes with shields" the Oracle pointed out, "use those to cover the holes!"

Kratos rushed towards the statues that rested atop a higher panel inside the temple while Pyrrha covered him by shooting any Harpy that attempted to get near either him or herself. He dragged the first statue from its spot on the platform and brought it down to the lower level, and dragged it towards the first hole on the left hand side of the temple. Once the statue was in place and the hole was covered, he repeated the same process with the other statue while Pyrrha continued to shoot down Harpy after Harpy. Pyrrha shot down the final Harpy as Kratos plugged the hole with the statue; they then continued up the stairs and walked across wooden beams to get to the other side of the temple. After fighting off multiple Legionnaires they had finally reached the courtyard of the temple and another earned reprieve.

"Kratos…and Pyrrha Nikos…you are every bit the warriors Athena herself foretold. Despite what that gravedigger said, you are late. Perhaps too late to save Athens…" she turned to Kratos and placed her hands, which were now surrounded by a bluish-white energy, on both sides of Kratos' face as she spoke again, "or is it Athens that you have come to save?" Kratos struggled to fend off the Oracle's magic, but his effort proved to be futile as the Oracle looked into his soul and saw a beast, as well as a man. Once a captain in the Spartan army, Kratos had begun his command with only fifty soldiers…but soon his numbers grew to the thousands. His tactics were brutal but effective. Drunk with power, he was feared by all. Except one, his wife was the only one to brave his fury.

" _How much is enough Kratos? When will it end?_ "

 **"** **UNTIL THE GLORY OF SPARTA IS KNOWN THROUGHOUT THE WORLD."**

" _The 'glory of Sparta'…you did this for yourself!_ " The image of his wife turned towards their daughter first to comfort her before looking at Kratos again with blood pouring from her eyes.

His desire for conquest knew no bounds, but that which he desired would ultimately consume him. The Oracle had seen enough and released his head out of fear, "By the gods! Why would Athena send one such as you?"

 **"** **STAY OUT OF MY HEAD!"** Kratos shouted as he grabbed the Oracle's throat in anger and tossed her to the side.

Shocked that Kratos did such a thing, Pyrrha caught the Oracle as she stumbled, "Kratos, that was uncalled for!"

Pyrrha helped the Oracle regained her balance and stood straight up as she looked Kratos in the eyes and said, "Choose your enemies wisely Kratos, your brute strength alone will not be enough to destroy Ares." She then turned to Pyrrha and asked her "How did you end up crossing paths with this…'man'?"

"It's a long story. But let's just say that Athena sent me to help."

"I see…" She walked away towards a door with an emblem of an owl carved into it and waved her hand in a motion that said 'follow me' to both warriors. She began to speak again as the two reached her location and the owl began to glow, "Only one item in the world will allow you to defeat a god...Pandora's Box, which lies far beyond the walls of Athens; hidden by the gods across the desert to the east. But be warned Kratos and Pyrrha Nikos, many have gone in search of Pandora's Box…none have returned. Go through the gates to the desert. There begins the path to Pandora's Box. It is the only way you will defeat Ares and save Athens."

* * *

 **Author's Note: What a month it's been since I last did this: quizzes and exams for practically every class, being involved in my college's play (which is cursed due to our lead actor thinking that it would be funny to say 'MacBeth' in the theatre during rehearsals), and fighting against Writer's Block. Anyways, here is the newest chapter and I hope you all enjoy it.**


	10. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own "God of War" or "RWBY": "God of War" belongs to Santa Monica Studios while "RWBY" belongs to RoosterTeeth.**

The destination was set, their path was clear; with their objective now in mind, Kratos and Pyrrha ran down the stairs that the Oracle revealed to them. The path led them to the foot of the tallest mountain in all of Greece: The Suicide Bluffs, a mountain with a seemingly endless set of stairs carved into the landscape that led to a cliff where many who had lost their way in life would end it all. The two warriors paid no attention to the Bluffs as they made their way across a bridge that was carved in the very likeness of a giant golden sword that stretched for what seemed like three miles long, with the hilt of the sword lying between the outstretched arms of a giant statue of Athena. They entered the statue and continued to run down a spiraling stair until they reached the Sewers of Athens itself. While traversing through the sewers, multiple Armored Legionnaires and Archers confronted them; Pyrrha shot down the Archers while Kratos made quick work of the Legionnaires. As they continued their way through the sewers, they were eventually confronted by more of the same creatures along with Minotaurs and Cyclopes; Kratos was in no mood for wasting time with these monsters and decided to end the battles early by pulling out Medusa's head. Allowing both Pyrrha and himself to destroy the statues and rush out of the sewers as quickly as they could. The two traveled for miles stoning creatures until they finally came to a ladder that led to another spiraling staircase that led upwards this time. They ran up the stairs until they came to a point where they literally couldn't, for the rest of the stairs were gone. Pyrrha noticed a lever right next to them, pulled it, and a new set of shorter, golden stairs descended from above. They walked up the fully formed stairs and noticed the golden owl in the center that showed the hologram of the Oracle from earlier…they were back at the Road to Athens. Only this time, bodies of dead Athenian soldiers littered the bridge compared to the last time they were there. They walked up the steps and through the entrance that overlooked the battlefield and saw Ares toying with the city of Athens while the armies continued their assault on the God of War in an attempt to cause some form of damage to him. Kratos stared daggers at Ares before continuing on their path towards the desert the Oracle told them about. They ran across the path to the right all the way to three giant stone doors with the center being the only ones that were open. They walked through the doors and down a pathway that led to a barren desert where a storm was currently taking place. Sand flew everywhere to the point where everything seemed blurry for both warriors; fortunately for both warriors, not too far away from the trail, lay a statue of Athena stuck in the sand. Its eyes began to glow as the two warriors approached it.

" _Kratos…Pyrrha…the journey ahead is perilous. But one you both must complete if you are to have any hope of saving Athens."_

 **"THE ORACLE SPOKE OF PANDORA'S BOX, CAN IT BE REAL?"**

 _"The box exists. It is the most powerful weapon a mortal can wield."_

"And with such a weapon, we will be able to defeat Ares?"

 _"With the box many things become possible, and so it is hidden well...far across the Desert of Lost Souls. There is safe passage through the deadly sands, but only those who hear and follow the Siren's song will discover it. You must find the Sirens Kratos and Pyrrha, only they can guide you to Cronos, the titan."_

 **"A TITAN LIVES?! I THOUGHT ZEUS IMPRISONED THEM ALL IN THE UNDERWORLD!"**

 _"Cronos is the last one that walks the Earth itself. However, Zeus has commanded him to wander the desert endlessly with the Temple of Pandora chained to his back...until the swirling sands rip the very flesh from his bones."_

"That seems a bit…harsh…" Pyrrha said as she cringed after hearing of the titan's punishment.

 _"See this journey through to the end Pyrrha, and I'll tell you the full details of how his punishment came to be. But for now stay true to the song of the Siren Kratos and Pyrrha; your journey begins here. Pray it leads you back to Athens with Pandora's Box...follow the song of the Sirens, Kratos and Pyrrha. Find and destroy them all, and the path through the deadly sands will be opened to you both."_

The eyes of Athena's statue stopped glowing and both warriors began to wander the desert; the sands scraped against their skins as they journeyed through the storm while trying to listen carefully for any kind of singing. The sand didn't bother Pyrrha too much as she had the protection of both her shield and her aura to protect her from the rough terrain, Kratos on the other hand simply ignored the pain and continued walking through the sandstorm. They wandered for what seemed like an eternity until they heard the sound of a woman singing, they stood in their tracks to try and pinpoint the direction of the sound. When the noise started getting louder, they both sprinted as quickly as they could towards the direction of the singing. They eventually came across the ruins of a semi-destroyed temple, and at the foot of the steps stood a Siren. The creature stopped singing and screeched as she saw the two warriors standing before her; she shot two small balls of electricity at the warriors, but Pyrrha jumped in front of Kratos with her shield held in front of her to protect them from the blasts. Kratos jumped over Pyrrha and attempted to slam his blades into the female creature, only for her to quickly move out of the way. This worked in favor for Kratos though as his attack created a shock-wave which knocked the creature to the ground. Pyrrha transformed her weapon into its rifle mode and fired, only for the Siren to quickly move out of the way. The Siren then fired a folly of balls of electricity at Pyrrha while Pyrrha matched every throw with her rifle. With the attacks constantly canceling each other out, this gave Kratos an opening; he rushed towards the Siren, grabbed it into his arms, grabbed the creature by the face, and pushed its entire body backwards…a loud crack was heard. As the Siren's dead carcass fell limp in Kratos' arms, its very spirit flew out of its body, spiraled around both Kratos and Pyrrha, and flew into the very door of the temple.

Athena's voice could be heard through the sands as a dot lit up on the door of the temple, _"You must find and destroy the two remaining Sirens before you may pass."_

The two continued through the Desert of Lost Souls searching for the remaining two Sirens; after walking for what seemed like another eternity, they heard the sound of another voice singing. They raced towards the direction of the sound and came across the second Siren. Kratos charged up a lightning bolt of his own and threw it towards the direction of the Siren, he ended up throwing the bolt at the ground beneath the Siren's feet. The Siren was sent backwards into a nearby destroyed statue and began to sing a different note that wasn't like the previous Siren that was killed. A few seconds later, two Minotaurs wielding giant axes and hammers appeared from the sand itself. Pyrrha took a battle stance to prepare herself for the coming battle, only for Kratos to activate Poseidon's Rage to not only disintegrate the Minotaurs, but also provide a temporary lapse in the sandstorm; this gave them enough time to see where the Siren was. More Minotaurs appeared as the Siren kept singing the tune, but Pyrrha threw her spear at the Siren and impaled it to the nearby statue. As it struggled to break itself free, Kratos approached the creature and sliced its head off before the Minotaurs could even attack.

As the Minotaurs disappeared, along with the spirit of the Siren circling both warriors like the last one, Athena's voice could be heard once more, _"You must find and destroy the final Siren before you may pass."_

Pyrrha grabbed her weapon from the statue before the two warriors unknowingly began walking north through the sandstorm for only a few minutes before coming across the sound of another Siren singing. As the singing got louder and louder, Kratos activated Poseidon's Rage to get a look as to where the creature was; as soon as they got confirmation, Pyrrha shot at the creature with her rifle…only for the creature to dodge three of the four shots, but losing its arm to the fourth shot. As it bled from the stump that was now its arm, the Siren began to sing the same note as the previous and summoned multiple Minotaurs to aid her. Kratos charged at the Siren while Pyrrha engaged the Minotaurs: Pyrrha weaved out of the way of each strike from the Minotaurs as she also countered by launching one in the air and shooting at the other. The Minotaur convulsed with each shot of electricity until it exploded into many different pieces. Pyrrha then transformed her weapon into its spear mode, stuck it in the sand, and placed it underneath the second Minotaur as it fell from the sky and impaled itself onto her spear. Over with Kratos, he rolled out of the way of the balls of lightning from the one armed Siren and swung his blades at her whenever he had the chance. The Siren was only able to dodge every other swing the Spartan threw and received cuts across her body. As it rushed towards the Spartan, Kratos swung his blades in a circular motion around his being to prevent the Siren from reaching him. The Siren was knocked to the ground by this assault and was violently picked up by Kratos. The creature struggled in vain against the grip of the Spartan as Kratos grabbed her by the face and snapped her body like a twig.

The spirit of the final Siren flew circles around both warriors and left a trail for them to follow as Athena spoke one final time, _"The desert Sirens have been destroyed Kratos and Pyrrha. The path before you is now revealed."_

The two warriors followed the trail of light back to the temple, earning a moment's reprieve before continuing their mission. They journeyed down a flight of stone stairs until they overlooked an area where the ground was nothing but a moving, wooden treadmill-like room that moved toward the direction of a giant wooden wheel with metal spikes protruding from it in a random pattern. They jumped down from where they were and onto the giant treadmill and ran against the flow of the floor and came across a level that was too tall for them; they searched the area for any signs of something that could help them out. Kratos was the first to spot an area on the wall with the emblem of a warrior's helmet and a handle at the bottom. Kratos attempted to lift the door but was unable to keep his balance as the floor beneath him kept moving; seeing this, Pyrrha searched around and noticed a few gears moving not too far from where she and Kratos were. She lifted her arm and it began to glow black; her semblance was activated she and stopped the gears from turning. The entire floor stopped moving, allowing Kratos to lift the door open and pull out a giant slab of stone onto the platform. Almost on cue, two Armored Legionnaires dropped behind both Kratos and Pyrrha and placed them in a full nelson. As Pyrrha was ambushed she, unintentionally, stopped using her semblance; thus allowing the gears to turn and the floor to move once again. Kratos grabbed the head of the creature that latched onto him and threw it into the turning wheel, causing it to be flattened to death with Pyrrha doing the same to the creature that grabbed her. Kratos returned to the slab of stone and continued to push it across the moving ground with Pyrrha on guard duty. As the two grew nearer to the wall, more Armored Legionnaires jumped down in front of Pyrrha. The first creature slashed at Pyrrha a few times before she parried with her shield, kicked it backwards, and heel-kicked the other one. She then slashed at the first creature a few times before slicing off its head; all the while Kratos finally moved the stone to the wall.

 **"PYRRHA!"** Kratos called out as he jumped on top of the stone and up towards the ledge. Pyrrha quickly cut the other Legionnaire in half and followed suit. Kratos lifted another stone door with the emblem of a warrior's helmet and the two exited the room. They ran through a hallway until they came to a room with two different portraits on opposite sides: the first image being that of the titan Cronos with a giant mountain on his back being tormented by divine beings riding Pegasuses; the inscription read, "The greatest architectural undertaking the world had ever seen, mighty Cronos the Titan is harnessed, the Temple of Pandora chained to his back." Pyrrha rubbed her back at the very thought of having to carry something incredibly gigantic on her back while on all four for who knows how long, she felt pity for Zeus' former father. The second image being that of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades standing in front of a mortal bowing before them; the inscription read, "The Gods appear before Pathos Verdes III, commanding him to build a temple to house the most powerful weapon on Earth or in Olympus."

"The Gods commanded a single human to build a temple to guard the most powerful weapon? Could something like that even be possible to complete in one lifetime?"

 **"WE'RE ABOUT TO FIND OUT"** Kratos said as he walked towards a horn that was chained to a stand that sat in front of the sandstorm that took place outside. He blew into the horn and parted the sandstorm, revealing a set of stairs across from where they stood. They crossed the path and walked up two sets of stairs to come across another horn that was chained down. Before they could approach it, a small tornado made of sand formed in front of them; they closed their eyes to prevent the sand from damaging their eyes and when they opened them again the horn was gone without a trace. A few seconds passed by before six dark pits formed around them, and out of the ground arose Sirens. As they screeched and hissed at the two warriors, Kratos and Pyrrha unsheathed their weapons from their backs and prepaired themselves for combat. Kratos activated Poseidon's Rage, managing to kill two of the six Sirens that circled them; the others quickly moved out of the way to avoid whatever attack Kratos had for them. Pyrrha blocked balls of lightning that were thrown at her with her shield; when she found an opening, she leapt into the air and started shooting down at the Sirens, managing to kill two more. One of the Sirens opened up a small vortex to suck Kratos near to her…big mistake. As it was about to slash at the Spartan with her nails, Kratos kneed the Siren in the gut, slammed its face into the ground repeatedly, and threw its body towards the small stone wall that surrounded them. Groggy but not beaten, the Siren continued to fire electric balls at Kratos. The Spartan rolled out of the way and blocked a few of the attacks before he closed in on the Siren, dug both of his blades into the creature's chest, kicked it forward, and moved his arms in a circular motion…causing the Siren to be violently thrown into the air before being slammed down onto the pavement. There was one Siren remaining; it briefly engaged Pyrrha in battle before the red-haired Huntress threw it into air. Both warriors looked at each other and nodded; Kratos charged up a bolt of lightning while Pyrrha changed her weapon into its rifle mode. Both took aim at the Siren, and fired at the same time…the Siren never returned to the ground as its blood rained down onto the ground.

With the Sirens gone, the dust tornado that took the horn the first time came back and returned the horn from before. Pyrrha blew into the horn this time, and the ground began to shake beneath them as she stepped away from the horn. Cronos, the last of the mighty titans, emerged from the desert sands. On his back, Pandora's Temple awaited; massive and patient, ready to challenge all who went in search of it's guarded treasure. As the mighty titan crawled past them, the two ran and jumped towards Cronos and grabbed hold of a piece of chain that flew towards them. They ran alongside the titan's body with the chain in hand until the momentum caused them to release and grab onto the side of the mountain. For three days Kratos and Pyrrha climbed the shear walls of the mountain. They knew they would either recover Pandora's Box or perish inside the cursed temple, never to return to the world of man. Kratos was the first to reach the top as a vulture that was eating the remains of a dead soldier flew away as he stood. He leaned over the side of the edge and reached his hand out for Pyrrha to grab, she did and was lifted up onto the edge where Kratos stood. They turned and beheld a magnificent sight; across a rickety old bridge made of wood lay their destination: Pandora's Temple.

* * *

 **Author's Note: I'M BACK...for a while. Spring Break is almost over and will be returning to school shortly. In the mean time a little anecdote: remember that one time when I posted one of the prologues and some of you guys commented saying "is it supposed to be like that" or "I think you have to re-upload the prologue"...well it almost...Happened...AGAIN! Thankfully I've learned from my mistakes and have since made it a habbit to proofread a document before uploading them. Although this is the first time it's happened since then and I had to delete...Delete...DELETE...DELETE EVERYTHING ONE WORD AT A TIME...if you guys enjoy the newest chapter it will be well worth it. Happy Early Easter, Resurrection Day, April Fool's Day, whatever you celebrate.**


	11. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own "God of War" or "RWBY". "God of War" belongs to Santa Monica Studios while "RWBY" belongs to RoosterTeeth.**

They wasted no time in crossing the bridge that stretched for a mile long; but as they did, a random thought came to Pyrrha's mind: she had just spent three days climbing up a mountain through a sandstorm to get to a temple that rested on top of a Titan…and she didn't feel hungry or weary at all. She thought back to her training sessions with Athena and remembered seeing the goddess's eyes shut while her body glowed during a segment of her training. "Athena" Pyrrha thought to herself, "just what exactly did you do to me?" She was about to ask Kratos if he felt any hunger at all but decided against it due to knowing that his answer would probably be something along the lines of Ares' training, a topic he would probably not want to talk about. After reaching the end of the bridge, they spotted a fire on top of a small plateau nearby and noticed a humanly figure dragging something behind him moving around at the top. They made their way to a small walkway that was located to the left of the bridge and followed it: the path itself circled beneath the exit of the bridge and traveled quite a way before coming to a wall of stone that possessed a handle wide enough for two people to grab hold of. Kratos and Pyrrha looked at the handle, then to each other and nodded, and pulled back on the handle to cause parts of the plateau to turn into stairs. They pulled the stones out until they reached a point where they couldn't be pulled anymore and quickly climbed up the newly created staircase as it started to move back in place.

Once at the top, the humanly figure they saw walking around turned to face them; he was human all right…but he looked horrible: this "man" that stood before them was missing his right eye as well as the skin to said side. Parts of his skull showed beneath the muscle tissue and the right half of his stomach was completely gone with only two of his ribs still in tact. Half of his right bicep remained in tact while the other half was missing, along with the skin on his forearm and his entire hand. In his left hand he held a giant wooden staff that was used to maneuver the dead bodies in the fire that was lit beside him. He then spoke in an almost bored and monotone voice as he saw the two warriors approach him, "So, you two think you can conquer the temple of the gods do you?" He ducked out of the way of a Harpy flying by him and the two warriors, and dropped a dead soldier into the fire pit. "It's never been done you know. Sooner or later the harpies will bring what's left of you back for me to burn." He slowly walked towards both warriors as he spoke again, "The gods hid Pandora's Box in here so no mortal would ever claim its power. And yet year after year I open the gate for more and more soldiers and place more and more bodies on these fires. If I were you…I'd leave now. But I can see you are both determined. Very well." He picked up a stone by his foot and threw it at the Harpies that were perched nearby, signaling them to open up the gate that stood before the exit of the bridge. "May the gods grant you strength to conquer the perils that lay before you. Good luck Amazon. Spartan." he said bored and sarcastically as he returned to placing some bodies onto the fire. Pyrrha was about to correct the man on her origins but stopped herself after remembering Athena's orders during her training: other than Hephaestus, if anyone refers to her as an "Amazon", do not correct them. The fewer questions that were asked the better in case Zeus was to find out about their actions. Kratos and Pyrrha witnessed the Harpies pull upward on a wooden gate as the walking corpse wished them luck. The man spoke again and caught their attention once more; "It's always the same: madmen and fools seeking glory, I know. As you can see by my... somewhat disheveled state. I was the first to attempt the temple and the first to die. The gods punished me for my failure and now I must tend to all who have followed me and perished."

"The gods punished you for failing to retrieve Pandora's Box? That's horrible" Pyrrha said.

"You think that's bad? The architect who built this temple was a zealot. He lived only to serve the gods but went mad trying. The rumor is that he's still alive, still inside...still trying to appease the gods who abandoned him years ago."

New thoughts and concerns started to flood Pyrrha's mind: the very same gods responsible for bringing her back to life were capable of such cruelty? That couldn't be correct, the gods that she's encountered thus far have been helpful towards her. "No" she thought to herself, "the gods here can't be that heartless. They commanded that man…what was his name again…Pathos Verdes III to build this temple to hide a dangerous weapon from mankind. They're only trying to help…but why would Zeus punish this titan, Cronos, so harshly? What's this about the gods 'abandoning' him? Athena…I hope you're still in a talkative mood when this is over." They both leapt down from the plateau and were about to walk through the gate until they heard the sound of something roaring from behind them; they turned around to see two pairs of hands, from opposite sides of the bridge they crossed, grab onto the ledge and beheld their first test: two large Desert Cyclops carrying two large clubs made of bone with spikes protruding everywhere. The two unsheathed their weapons as they saw a wall of orange magic block the entrance to the staircase.

Pyrrha looked back at the newly formed blockade and commented with a bit of confusion in her voice, "Huh…that's new."

 **"THIS MUST BE OUR FIRST TEST. ONE OF MANY MORE THAN LIKELY."**

The first Cyclops lowered its right shoulder and charged at the two in an attempt to gore them both with the spikes on its back, Kratos and Pyrrha rolled out of the way in time and were able to slice at both ankles in the process. The Cyclops stumbled a bit but didn't fall down; it turned around to roar at the two warriors just as the other one caught up to the two. Kratos and Pyrrha charged towards their giants without any hesitation: Kratos swung his blades at the Cyclops' body and gave the beast a few nasty scars before it began to swing its club at the Spartan. Kratos was able to move out of the way of the attack and got in close to punch the creature in the stomach. The Cyclops attempted to grab Kratos but was unable to as the Spartan slid underneath the beast's legs and dug his blades into the back of the creature's kneecaps, causing it to fall to one leg. Kratos used the spikes on the Cyclops as a way to climb up its back, grabbed onto a spike that looped around the creature's back and swung to the front so he was able to dig his blade into its chest and drag it down past its stomach. The Cyclops' innards spilled out of the gap that Kratos created as it bled everywhere, fell in defeat, and disappeared into nothingness.

Over with Pyrrha: she threw her shield at the Cyclops' face in order to disorient it as it was about to swing its club at her. With the creature now dazed, the shield returned to her hand as she began to slash at it with her xiphos. The Cyclops stumbled back a bit with each slash and attempted to grab Pyrrha, but she dodged out of the way in the nick of time by sliding underneath its legs, used the bones that were sticking out of the beasts' back to climb up, launched herself into the air, transformed her xiphos into its rifle mode, and fired at the creature's head. The body stood still and bled profusely for a few seconds as Pyrrha landed gracefully on the ground; once she was back on ground, the headless body fell backwards and disintegrated like the other one.

The two warriors stood ready as they saw one final Desert Cyclops approach from the edge; both parties charged each other with the determination to destroy the other. Like the first one, the Cyclops attempted to gore the two warriors with the bones on its back via a shoulder tackle, but missed as Kratos and Pyrrha rolled out of the way and sliced deep cuts into its ankles. As the creature struggled to get to its feet, Kratos readied a bolt of lightning while Pyrrha transformed her weapon once again into its rifle mode; the creature got to its feet, turned around and was greeted with two sources of electricity striking its very being. The creature convulsed violently before exploding everywhere; with the final creature gone, their first test was completed. Both warriors re-sheathed their weapons at the battle's conclusion.

With the creatures gone, the wall of magic vanished; allowing them both to walk up the steep staircase. Once at the top, they beheld two giant doors with the image of arms holding swords in both hands pointing east and west with a lever in front of it. The two may have stood in front of the doors for only a few seconds, but those seconds felt like an eternity. Their destination was in front of them; their greatest and deadliest challenge awaited them behind these doors.

Kratos was the first to break the tension, **"ONCE WE ENTER THROUGH THESE DOORS, THERE IS NO TURNING BACK. ARE YOU READY FOR THIS?"**

If the situation weren't so grim Pyrrha would've laughed at this question, for she had nothing to lose anymore. Her friends and family are no longer with her, her beloved was forever out of her reach, and no one in this new world knows who she is or what she stands for. Instead of laughing, she took a deep breath, exhaled, grabbed her weapons from her back, looked at Kratos and said, "Let's do this."

Kratos nodded his head in agreement and turned the lever a full three hundred and sixty degrees, causing the doors to open. They walked through the doors and into a room with six giant statues on both sides separated from each other on top of a porcelain floor that reflected everything despite being covered by piles of sand. Near the end of a hall was a book that rested on top of a stone pedestal in front of a wall with an eye in the center between two statues. After walking through the doors towards the book, the entrance closed behind them and their next obstacle rose in the form of three Wraiths and two Undead Archers. Pyrrha fired two shots from her rifle at the Archers while Kratos activated Poseidon's rage; just as the creatures disintegrated into ashes, another set of the same beasts rose from pits of darkness to take the place of the fallen creatures. One of the Wraiths slashed at Kratos only for the Spartan to grab the beast's arm; as he held the creature at bay, he look at the Archers that readied their arrows and got an idea: he pulled the Wraith in front of him to block the arrows. The creature screamed in pain as the arrows pierced through its back; Kratos took this opportunity to throw the Wraith at the Archers causing them to hit the wall behind them. While they struggled to get back up, Pyrrha took this opportunity and cut off their heads. Afterwards, she stabbed the Wraith through the back and cut the beast in half. The two remaining Wraiths burrowed underground and attempted to slice at Kratos from below, but the experienced Spartan moved out of the way of one strike, launched his blades towards the other while it was still underground, ripped the Wraith from its hole, and slammed it onto the ground. The second Wraith was about to strike Kratos, but failed to due to being shot at from Pyrrha; as the Wraith disintegrated into nothingness, Kratos tossed the remaining Wraith over his being by its arm, ripped the arm from its socket, and decapitated the creature with its own blade.

There was silence as the two waited for the next wave of creatures that never came; when they realized the coast was clear, they re-sheathed their weapons and made their way to the book. Kratos read the book out loud, **"THIS TEMPLE WAS ERECTED IN HONOR OF AND AT THE COMMAND OF THE MIGHTY LORD ZEUS. ONLY THE BRAVEST HERO SHALL SOLVE ITS PUZZLES AND SURVIVE ITS DANGERS. ONE MAN WILL RECEIVE ULTIMATE POWER; ALL OTHERS SHALL MEET THEIR DOOM. PATHOS VERDES III, CHIEF ARCHITECT AND LOYAL SUBJECT OF THE GODS."**

"Only one huh? We'll see about that," Pyrrha said nonchalantly.

 **"WE'LL FIGURE THAT OUT LATER…THE TEMPLE AWAITS."**

"Yes…it does."

They left the book and stood before the eye and stared into the pupil; as they stared into the pupil, they noticed that letters along the outer rim of the circle began to glow until the very last letter lit up. When it did, the eye rolled to the side to reveal a hallway that looped in a circle: this room was The Rings of Pandora. They walked through the hall that was decorated with gears, images of gods, and loose tapestry until they arrived at a door with the image of a giant human skull on it with a hole located in the center of the head.

"What do you suppose the key is?" Pyrrha asked.

 **"POSSIBLY ANOTHER SKULL."**

"That seems a bit…redundant, don't you think?"

 **"EITHER WAY, WE STILL NEED TO FIND THE KEY THAT OPENS IT."**

"Sure, find a key, it shouldn't be that hard to find…"

They turned around to walk through the corridor that faced the skull shaped door but stopped in their tracks as they saw what lay before them: four sets of spiked panels that constantly opened and closed on each other. There were trails of blood between each panel along with bodies of previous warriors who failed still stuck on the spikes. Kratos looked back at Pyrrha who nervously laughed and smiled at the timing of her statement; he turned back towards the deathtrap that lay ahead of them and got an idea.

 **"ARE YOUR POWERS ABLE TO STOP THESE THINGS WHILE WE MOVE THROUGH THEM?"**

Pyrrha nodded as she stepped forward and outstretched her arms and activated her semblance; as her arms glowed black, the first set of panels stopped moving as Kratos and Pyrrha walked past them. They continued the process until they reached the end of the corridor and entered a room with what appeared to be a deep pool in its center, images of the gods decorating the walls, and a lever between the image of two bronze statues pushing onto half of an oval-shaped device. Four Undead Archers that fired at them as soon as they entered the room guarded it; Pyrrha held up her shield to block the oncoming fire arrows. Kratos jumped over Pyrrha and killed the Archers without a second's hesitation; however, as he finished off the last one, more Archers appeared and aimed at him. Fortunately, Pyrrha cut them all down before they could even release the arrow from the string. She walked cautiously towards the lever between the two statues, placed her hand on it before looking back at Kratos, who nodded in approval, and pulled it. Kratos turned towards the direction of the corridor and saw that the panels were no longer opening and closing, but were now pulled all the way back into the wall and remained there. He also heard something being lowered to the floor and became curious as to what it was. Pyrrha stepped down from the lever and noticed that two handles slowly emerged from the statues; the two looked at them curiously, grabbed the handles and pushed towards each other. As they did this, the statues moved close together as well to reveal that half of a giant diamond were what the statues held in their respective ovals. A stream of light beamed off the diamond all the way down the hall towards the skull door, but did nothing.

"What now?"

 **"I HEARD SOMETHING TOUCH DOWN ONTO THE FLOOR AT THE END OF THE CORRIDOR, MAYBE THAT MIGHT LEAD TO SOMETHING."**

They walked past the spiked panels until they reached the entrance they originally came through and saw something that wasn't there before: a wooden lever that had its own set of gears attached to it. Kratos grabbed it and started turning, as he did this the entire floor began to move under them, causing the corridor that had the deathtrap disappear behind a moving wall. Pyrrha stepped onto the platform and managed to stay out of Kratos' way as he kept turning; after turning for some time, another hallway revealed itself. Pyrrha motioned Kratos to stop turning; they walked up the small flight of stairs and looked upon a door with images of half naked women adorning it with two statues appearing to be missing.

"Who are they?"

 **"MUSES, THE DAUGHTERS OF ZEUS. IT APPEARS TWO OF THE STATUES ARE MISSING ON THIS DOOR."**

"What do you think is behind this door?"

 **"I DO NOT KNOW. IT WOULDN'T HURT KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THEM."**

They exited the hallway and returned to turning the lever once more; after turning it for some time another passage was revealed to them. This time there appeared to be a wall of red-orange energy between two tall statues of Zeus; another altar was presented to them, they left the lever and walked towards the altar. As they did, an image of a beautiful woman with small horns protruding from her head appeared before them.

 **"ARTEMIS."**

 _"Kratos, the Gods demand more of you and your protégé. You have learned to use the Blades of Chaos well, but they alone will not carry you to the end of your task. I offer you the very blade I used to slay a Titan. Take this gift and use it to complete your quest. Take this weapon Kratos, take its power and use it to defeat your enemies."_

The Blades of Chaos glowed with purple energy and pulled towards each other against Kratos' will as Artemis spoke; when they came together the blades merged and transformed into a giant, curved sword with two jagged edges that emitted purple energy surrounding the entire blade. After swirling the sword around to get the hang of it, Kratos pulled on its hilt with both of his hands, pulled it apart, and reformed the Blades of Chaos. He re-sheathed his blades and bowed his head towards the Goddess to thank her.

 _"Go with the Gods Kratos and protégé. Go forth in the name of Olympus."_

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hello again everyone. Yes, yes, I'm well aware that God of War IV came out (I don't care that they're calling it "God of War", I'm calling it 4 because that's what it is) and missed the perfect opportunity to release this new chapter...but school and all has me busy. I also find it quite hilarious that there are now four writers for a "God of War" and "RWBY" crossover now that "God of War IV" is out...neat.  
Also, a while back I mentioned that I was going to do "Ghost of Sparta" in the future, well now I'm debating with myself on whether to include "God of War: Betrayal" into the story as well. I'm also leaning towards doing 4 as well, I don't know yet. What do you all think?  
Anyways, hope you all enjoy this new chapter.**


	12. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own "God of War" or "RWBY": "God of War" belongs to Santa Monica Studios, while "RWBY" belongs to RoosterTeeth.**

The image of Artemis faded and the two red-clad warriors continued their journey; they ran down the newly discovered path that twisted and turned along the way until they made their way to a room with Undead Legionnaires waiting for them. A metal door sprang up from behind the two as they entered, trapping them with the creatures… or trapping the creatures with the two warriors. Kratos slammed his blades together to form the new weapon that Artemis gifted him with, while Pyrrha charged the closest Legionnaire. The creature raised its blade up too slow to defend itself as Pyrrha threw her shield at its neck, beheading it and ricocheting off a nearby wall to bisect another before returning to its wielder. Kratos on the other hand sliced through three Legionnaires with one swing to each creature, cutting them up like a hot knife to butter. Legionnaire after Legionnaire kept popping up from black pits, and one by one they fell to the deadly duo. After fighting off the horde of Legionnaires, four final pits emerged from different corners of the room. From these pits emerged a single Gorgon to combat the girl and the ghost; Pyrrha held her shield in front of her with her spear resting on top while Kratos returned the Blade of Artemis to the Blades of Chaos. The two warriors met back to back with each other on a small bridge that lay in the center of the room with the Gorgons slithering towards them, thinking they cornered their prey. Their eyes began to glow as they readied themselves to turn the two into stone; but as they raised their heads to activate their curse, Kratos jumped into the air and activated Poseidon's rage. Electricity surged through the Gorgons as they screamed in pain; not wanting to take any chances, Pyrrha transformed her spear into its rifle mode and fired at all four Gorgons. The creatures' bodies convulsed with so much electricity flowing through them that they eventually exploded, with blood and other body parts spraying everywhere; Pyrrha kept her shield raised as the blood rain occurred.

With the serpent women gone, Kratos and Pyrrha inspected the room to see what to expect in order to progress. They eventually spotted a hallway that wasn't locked down and walked through it. They turned the corner of the hallway and were about to enter into a different room had it not been for the sound of multiple hissing. The two stopped in their tracks in preparation; their instinct to dodge kicked in as Pyrrha cartwheeled backwards and Kratos rolled backwards, narrowly avoiding the swipe of a tail from two separate Gorgons.

"Great, more of them" Pyrrha replied in an annoyed tone.

Kratos fell into a stance and gathered energy into the Blades of Chaos then slammed the blades into the ground to create a shockwave that sent the serpents flying away from them. One flew out of the hallway and into the room, while another was sent hard into the ceiling above them. Before the Gorgon that hit the ceiling could recuperate, Pyrrha stabbed the creature through its chest with her spear. It screamed in pain and agony before finally falling limp and disappearing into nothingness. While Pyrrha did this, Kratos went after the other Gorgon and grabbed it by its serpentine hair, twisted its neck twice, and violently ripped its head off. The celebration was short lived as an arrow scrapped against Kratos' arm; he turned to see that there were two Undead Archers standing on a small platform reaching for more arrows to shoot at the Spartan. Before they could even reach the arrow to the string, both creatures were struck down by a stream of lightning; Kratos turned around to see Pyrrha as the source of said attacks. Two more Archers appeared from pits of darkness to replace the two that were slain, only to be slain as quickly as they appeared by the two red-clad warriors.

They stood in silence, waiting for anything that may attempt to surprise them, but when nothing revealed itself they re-sheathed their weapons. They inspected the room that they were in and discovered a wall carving of two soldiers facing each other, but had two large, circular holes near their arms. As if something was supposed to go there.

"Their shields appear to be missing" Pyrrha deduced, "we should split up to look for them."

 **"I AGREE"** the Ghost of Sparta replied, **"I'LL SEARCH IN THE OTHER ROOM WE CAME FROM, YOU LOOK IN HERE."**

"Got it." Pyrrha began to inspect the room even more as Kratos walked away; she came across a pedestal in the center of the room and cautiously stepped on it to see what would happen. She looked up to see that the wall behind the small platform that the Archers stood on spin rather quickly. She stepped off of it to see the movement again, and in the brief second of the wall turning she noticed something, "a secret room… interesting" she thought to herself. 'Now I just need something to weigh it down while I'm up there", Pyrrha walked the hallway for a brief moment before spotting a cart filled with rocks just sitting around the corner, "just what I need". She grabbed the handle of the cart and started to drag it out of the hallway and towards the platform. She stood there for a few seconds to catch her breath before mumbling to herself, "Nora… I really wish you were here right now…" She collected herself, walked up the steps, and used her semblance to move the cart onto the pedestal. She grabbed hold of the handle that was attached to the wall as the cart landed onto the pedestal; the wall turned, with Pyrrha in it, and circled into the hidden room.

"Well, that was easy… kind of…"Pyrrha said as she backed away from the wall. She had little time to celebrate as she heard a screech from a golden armored Legionnaire wielding a curved, spiked sword. "Only one? Not likely" she said as she unsheathed her weapons from her back. Unsurprisingly, the screech called in reinforcements for the Fallen Legionnaire; and it was answered as two more walked up next to it. "Just as expected" Pyrrha said to herself as she charged the small group. The first creature charged at Pyrrha as well and swung its blade in an attempt to bisect the huntress; unfortunately, Pyrrha saw it coming and slid underneath the blade and cut its leg off at the knee. The beast fell to the floor as Pyrrha used the momentum of her slide to get back to her feet and engaged the other two in combat. The creatures slashed their swords at the girl to try and cut her down, but Pyrrha was too quick as she was able to counterattack by throwing her shield into the face of one creature and bounce off another, dizzying them both. She took this opportunity to bisect both creatures in half and slicing off the head of the one legged creature as it attempted to stand. Three dark pits emerged from different corners of the room, with three more Fallen Legionnaires rising from them. Pyrrha switched her sword into its rifle mode and fired at the three creatures before they were able to crawl completely out of the pits; their heads exploded and their bodies went limp before disappearing into dust. She looked around and waited for a few seconds before re-sheathing her weapons; Pyrrha looked around the hallway and saw a wooden ladder, she climbed it and pulled herself onto the level. She passed through an opening and saw a golden shield on an altar across from her. She carefully balanced herself as she walked across the wooden beams in order to reach the golden shield. She reached it, picked up the shield that had Zeus' face on it, and jumped down to where the door with the two soldier' image was. "Huh… that was easy," she thought to herself as she placed the shield into its slot, "I wonder how Kratos is doing."

Over on Kratos' end: he is fighting off Fallen Legionnaires while making his way across a chasm via tightrope located underneath the room where he and Pyrrha had first entered. Around him on pillars and walkways were soldiers fighting off many of the same creatures that Kratos was now battling. Some fell fighting the creatures, while some were able to slay a few; it was a stalemate with neither human nor beast gaining the upper hand. He had finally made his way across the chasm after finishing off the final beast that attempted to bring him down with it; Kratos glared down at the creature as it fell to its demise, almost daring it to climb back up. He walked up a small set of stairs past a wooden blockade towards a silver shield with the image of Hades on it, picked it up, placed it on his back, and saw that he activated another test: a wall of orange and black energy blocked his exit as multiple Undead and Fallen Legionnaires popped up from bits of darkness and dropped from the ceiling. To make the situation worse, the wooden blockade that Kratos passed began to move slowly towards him. **"JUST PERFECT"** the Spartan grumbled to himself. He charged towards the horde of Legionnaires with the Blade of Artemis now in his hands and swung at anything and everything that moved. Limbs went flying everywhere as the fight continued, as well as blood; the horde seemed never ending as Kratos continued to fight without any signs of slowing down. As more and more Legionnaires appeared, Kratos activated Poseidon's Rage once more to take out as many as he could as the pillar with the wooden pikes slowly made its way towards the fight. He rolled away from the crowd in order to move more freely, pulled out Medusa's head, and turned the remaining creatures to stone. He pulled out his Blades of Chaos, jumped in the air, charged the blades and came crashing down to the ground, shattering the statues that stood around him. The pillar stopped and began to move back into its original place just as the energy field disappeared. Kratos breathed heavily as he attempted to calm himself down; he jumped over to the platform where he had originally entered from and began climbing up the rope that awaited him. As he reached the top, he saw that Pyrrha was looking down the rope in curiosity.

"Kratos, are you down there?"

 **"WAIT THERE CHILD, I WILL BE UP MOMENTARILY."**

The Spartan continued to climb until he was finally above Pyrrha, and jumped from the rope back onto solid ground.

"You're covered in blood," Pyrrha remarked, "what happened down there?"

 **"YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW"** he said as he walked away.

Pyrrha looked down the hole one more time before walking beside the Spartan towards the door with the two warriors on it. He placed the shield into the remaining slot and stepped back to see what occurred next: once the shield was back in place, the image of the warriors ascended into the ceiling and opened up another passage for the two to walk through. The two made their way down the passageway before coming across a wooden ladder that they would climb up towards another level. The room they entered was unbelievable: spinning blades stained with blood that raced across the room both in horizontal and vertical lines at rapid speeds with long dead bodies and cut up limbs littering the floor.

"Ok… this is a bit ridiculous" Pyrrha said in disbelief.

 **"STAY FOCUSED PYRRHA."**

"Right… but still… it's hard to believe that one man came up with all this." Pyrrha outstretched her arms and activated her semblance to stop the oncoming blades that threatened to stop them until they made it to the other side. The two came across a weak looking brick wall that the two ended up destroying with their bladed weapons, only to reveal three Fallen Legionnaires waiting behind it as well as a conveyor belt on the ground that rolled between three separate pairs of spiked walls that constantly slammed towards each other. Pyrrha used her semblance to push the creatures down the conveyor belt and towards the slamming walls, as they attempted to get back up to their feet the walls slammed on the creatures, killing them instantly. Pyrrha used her semblance again to hold each wall back as they let the belt take them across towards the other side. They walked up a nearby flight of stairs and made short work of two Harpies that flew above them. They ran across the stone bridge and began to climb up a rock wall; they climbed, jumped over a few chasms, and fought off the occasional Fallen Legionnaire that emerged from black pits on the cliffside until they arrived to a hole in the cliff. Kratos pulled on the lever that was outside the entrance to reveal a spike falling to the ground with a long chain attached firmly to it; their way down for when they finished their business inside the room. In this room lay an altar with a handle on top, the floor below the steps of the altar was made of wood and creaked with every step Kratos and Pyrrha took. As soon as the two stepped into the room, a wall of energy blocked the altar and a wooden gate lowered behind them, thus blocking their exit. They turned around to see two Sirens and four Armored Legionnaires carrying glowing, golden shields emerging from pits of darkness; Pyrrha fired at the Sirens while Kratos slammed his blades at the shields of the other beasts. Their shields shattered at Kratos' offensive attacks, but the ground beneath their feet began to shake as well. Pyrrha noticed this and began to increase the speed of her attacks on the Sirens, for she knew that the floor could give way at any time and cause them to fall to their deaths. Not wanting to take any more chances with their situation, Kratos activated Poseidon's Rage to destroy the creatures. As the Siren and Legionnaires dissolved to ashes, the wall of energy disappeared; allowing Kratos to grab the handle they would probably use for later.

The two exited the room, slid down the chain that Kratos lowered earlier, crossed the stone bridge, went down the wooden stairs, traveled across the conveyor belt past the slamming spiked walls, and back to the room with the spinning blades. This time they noticed that there were two levers located in different areas of the room; with Pyrrha's help, Kratos was able to make it to the first lever, while Pyrrha used her semblance to prevent the blades from reaching her in order to reach the second lever. The switches opened two sets of bars that revealed another pathway for the two to travel; Pyrrha was able to get to the entrance with ease, while Kratos had to time his movement just right in order to avoid the blades ripping him to shreds. The Spartan took his time, but eventually he was able to make it to where Pyrrha stood. The new path revealed a chasm separating their entrance to their new destination; the two were forced to carefully shimmy along a narrow walkway of the chasm in order to reach the other side. Once on the other side, Kratos and Pyrrha came across a door with the image of a man on one knee while holding a circular object above his shoulders; Kratos recognized this image immediately, despite it being a loose interpretation of the being.

 **"ATLAS."**

"Who?"

 **"A TITAN WHO FOUGHT AGAINST THE GODS IN A GREAT WAR WHO NOW HOLDS THE WORLD ON HIS SHOULDERS."**

"The Gods are quite creative with their punishments, aren't they?"

 **"THE GODS HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH HIS CURRENT CONDITION"** Kratos said as he began to lift the door.

"They didn't? Well... who did?"

 **"ME"** Kratos answered as he raised the door above his head and entered into the new room; three Undead Archers and two Minotaurs with giant hammers greeted them as they entered. The Archers were disposed of quickly with Kratos hurling Zeus' Fury at them, while the Minotaurs lasted longer than the Archers…not by much though as Kratos whipped out Medusa's head and stoned the two before they could attack. A single strike from Pyrrha ended up destroying the Minotaur statues.

She turned to face the Spartan as he placed the handle into the crank, "what did you mean by YOU were the one responsible for Atlas' punishment?"

 **"IT'S A LONG STORY"** is what he said as he turned the crank, causing the statue of Atlas to raise a stone ball above his head. With the ball now above the statue of Atlas, Pyrrha noticed that quite a bit of space was now opened up to them; she walked behind the statue and saw a gray chest made of stone and wood. She re-sheathed her weapons, grabbed the handle of the chest, and flung open the lid.

"What do we have here?" She said as she reached into the chest and pulled out a statue of a woman.

Kratos walked beside her and inspected the girl's findings, **"IT'S A MUSE."**

"It must go to that door we came across earlier."

 **"WITHOUT A DOUBT."**

Kratos stowed the statue away for the time being as he and Pyrrha entered a hallway off to the side that also possessed a staircase going up. Said staircase also revealed six Fallen Legionnaires readying their blades for combat against the red clad warriors. Pyrrha threw her shield at the wall of the hallway, ricocheting quickly like a pinball and decapitating every single one before they could even react. The shield returned to the girl as the two continued on their way. They eventually came across two Undead Archers that stood in front of their exit; Pyrrha shot them down with her rifle, which not only cleared their path, but also revealed more Archers across from where they stood. Kratos killed them with Zeus' Fury before making his way over to a walkway that connected the two sides. The walkway possessed a lever that Kratos pulled; once pulled, the statue of Atlas threw the stone ball towards the direction of the two warriors. Pyrrha readied her rifle and was about to fire, but Kratos placed his hand on the barrel to tell Pyrrha not to. The ball bounced multiple times but never reached the two, but instead broke a large door open that led to the outside.

They jumped down from the walkway and walked outside across a bridge made of stone and marble; at the end of the bridge appeared to be a coffin on top of an elevated platform with a book sitting on top of a podium. Kratos read the text out loud, **"MY YOUNGEST SON WILL LAUGH NO MORE. DEATH IN THE SERVICE OF HIS FATHER. DEATH IN THE SERVICE OF THE GODS. THE BUILDING OF THIS TEMPLE HAS CLAIMED HIS LIFE. MAY YOU BE LUCKY ENOUGH THAT IT NOT CLAIM YOURS. PATHOS VERDES III, CHIEF ARCHITECT AND LOYAL SERVANT TO THE GODS."**

Pyrrha bowed her head and closed her eyes for a moment of silence before speaking out loud, "the poor man, losing his youngest son…"

Kratos hardened his heart to what he read, walked up to the coffin, and pulled away the lid.

"Kratos, what are you doing?"

He didn't answer as he jumped onto the coffin and pulled the skull from the dead boy's body. **"A SKULL IS THE KEY TO THE DOOR."**

The young Huntress turned away from the skull in disgust, "I don't like it, I don't like it one bit."

The platform holding the coffin began to move as Kratos stuffed away the head for safekeeping. The platform revealed a hidden ladder that led down into a tunnel; Kratos and Pyrrha climbed down said ladder and followed their newly discovered passage. They traveled this corridor that was littered with cobwebs for quite some time before they stumbled upon a staircase that was covered with the bodies of dead soldiers. The wrecked bodies of those who had gone in search of Pandora's Box lay before them, and at once Kratos knew who was responsible. For this was not the first time he'd seen the ruin Ares and his minions had left in their wake. Kratos had experienced it first hand years before. His mind flashed back to the days when he was the youngest and boldest Captain in the Spartan army. He stood in silence for what seemed like an eternity remembering the day that cost him everything while Pyrrha looked on in horror and disgust at what lay before them. Finally Kratos looked up and spoke with sadness in his voice, **"BY THE GODS…WHAT HAVE I BECOME?"**


	13. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own "God of War" or "RWBY; "God of War" belongs to Santa Monica Studios, while "RWBY" belongs to RoosterTeeth.**

Pyrrha stood flabbergasted at what she had just heard come out of Kratos' mouth; this man, this battle-hardened warrior, this being who was hailed as the Champion of the Gods that stood before her…was lamenting his actions. She couldn't see his face, but she could tell by the drooping of his shoulders that he was feeling sorrow for the first time since their journey began. Though she had witnessed Kratos' brutal actions in combat, both through Khronos' mirror and witnessing it first hand, she had almost forgotten one crucial detail about him…Kratos was still human. "There's still hope for him" Pyrrha thought to herself. She stepped towards the Spartan and asked, "Are you okay?"

Kratos stood in silence for a few seconds before breathing and readjusting his posture; once again he stood tall and focused on his objective, finally he responded with, **"IT IS NOTHING. LET'S GO."**

They walked up the corpse covered stairs and turned right at the corner towards a stone door with an image of a devilish being on it that also had a handle at the bottom. Kratos lifted the door from the handle to reveal that they had returned to the room with the half crystal and pool in the center. They both barely started walking down the hallway before an orange wall of energy blocked their entrance and exit; another test had presented itself in the form of four Fallen Legionnaires popping up from the ground by pools of darkness. Kratos attacked first by throwing his blade into the exposed gut of the closest creature; with the blade firmly planted into the beast, Kratos pulled back on the chain with the fiend still attached. Kratos grabbed the Legionnaire by the throat, lifted it into the air while keeping an eye on the others, and ran towards the others with the first one still in his arms; using it as both a shield and a battering ram. They all were flung into the spiked walls off to the side while Kratos slammed the head of the one he originally grabbed into a nearby wall repeatedly before tossing its remains to the ground. Four more pits of darkness emerged with the same creatures as before popping out; before Kratos could repeat the previous actions, Pyrrha shot down each creature with her rifle and causing them to explode. Blood flew everywhere as the wall of energy came down, allowing the two warriors to proceed with their quest. With both warriors out of the hallway, a wall descended from behind them, cutting them off from the room.

"Looks like we won't be able to head back there for a while. Hey, Kratos…"Pyrrha said as the Spartan was about to insert the Son's Head into the skull shaped emblem.

 **"WHAT IS IT?"**

"Before we advance any further, how about we get rid of that Muse statue?" **  
**

Kratos pulled out the statue of the Muse and inspected it before replying back, **"GOOD IDEA. NOT MUCH SENSE IN WORRYING ABOUT IT DURING A BATTLE".**

The two walked down the hallway to the lever with Pyrrha turning it this time; she turned until the hole in the wall revealed the door that led to the wall of Muses. They placed the statue into the slot it belonged to and returned to the door with the skull emblem on it. Kratos once again pulled out the Son's Head and placed it into the slot, causing the door to descend into the floor and revealing another circular hallway. They were about to step through the newly created entrance had it not been for the sound of something huge rolling towards them. They both leaned into the entrance and immediately pulled back as they saw a thirty-foot tall cylinder made of rock and spikes roll pass them. When the cylinder finally passed by, the two warriors looked into the room once again to see if there was any other unpleasant surprise waiting for them; Pyrrha sighed in relief when they saw that there wasn't. "And here I thought the room of spinning blades was ridiculous" Pyrrha commented before entering the circular hallway.

 **"I DOUBT THIS WILL BE THE END OF THEM."**

"At this point…I wouldn't be surprised."

They casually walked behind the giant cylinder until they came across a flight of stairs to their right that revealed a giant statue in the center of a room filled to the brim with water, at the edge of the wall stood statues with arches connecting to the other hallway that the two entered from, and on the other side of where to the two red themed warriors stood was a wooden ladder leading up to another level of the temple; the cylinder rolled underneath the ladder revealing that it was tall enough to reach it.

"Guess we have to wait for that thing to come around."

 **"BE READY WHEN IT DOES."**

The two waited patiently as the cylinder slowly but surely made its way towards them; when it finally did, they both jumped onto it and carefully walked across the opposite direction that it rolled. Kratos grabbed the jumped from the cylinder and onto the ladder with Pyrrha following suite; she jumped from the cylinder and grabbed onto Kratos' arm that was reaching out for her. He swung her beneath him so she could begin climbing herself, but as they began climbing the ladder itself slid downwards onto the ground. They wasted no time in their ascension and reached the top; they looked downward to see the cylinder making its round in the hallway, as well as it falling into a trap door before reaching the ladder again. Kratos turned to walk away from the edge while Pyrrha breathed a sigh of relief, "whew…glad we don't have to worry about that anymore."

They walked into a winding hallway and up a flight of stairs before crossing an outdoor stone bridge that led to a circular area, with stone columns surrounding it, that seemed to be almost torn down by time itself. They walked towards the center and saw a tiny green Cerberus Puppy snarling at them; Kratos stood still, unimpressed at what threatened him while Pyrrha unsheathed her weapons. Due to her training with Athena, she knew what was coming next and didn't let her guard down for a second: the Puppy convulsed with red and orange energy, growing bigger and bigger, until finally it grew three heads foaming with fire itself from their mouths and standing almost the same height as Kratos himself. As Kratos unsheathed his blades, more Cerberus Puppies burst forth from pools of darkness in order to join the fight while an orange wall of energy blocked their entrance and exit yet again; Pyrrha transformed her weapon into its rifle mode and began firing while Kratos began slashing his blades at the hellhound that stood before him.

With every shot fired from Pyrrha's rifle, a Cerberus Pup was slain, and for every Pup slain a new one appeared and shot itself as a ball of fire towards the Invincible Girl. She ducked and rolled out of the way of each fireball that flew her way while continually firing at the pack. Meanwhile, the fully-grown Cerberus Dog that Kratos was fighting attempted to throw the Spartan off of its back. Kratos held tightly onto the beast's fur while stabbing its back in the process. One of the heads attempted to bite Kratos, only to receive a kick in the face and a few missing teeth for its effort. Kratos finally jumped off its back, turned his body toward the hound while in the air, and drove his blade into the middle head. The Cerberus Dog's body went limp, life faded from its eyes, and its body turned to dust as Kratos pulled his blade out of its skull. He watched as Pyrrha finished off the last of the Cerberus Pups with her rifle, causing the wall to disappear. They began walking down the now opened pathway and made their way past a giant, square, block and were about to inspect it had it not been for the sound of something big approaching. They looked up to see two Desert Cyclopes heading their way; Pyrrha face palmed at the idea of facing off against something so soon after dealing with the Cerberus pack, while Kratos pulled out Medusa's Head, held it high, activated its gaze, and turned them both to giant stone statues. Pyrrha fired at one while Kratos destroyed the other with Zeus's Fury, putting an end to the battle before it even began.

They turned their attention back onto the giant block and noticed a few arrows sticking onto one side, and then looked down the path they would be traveling. Pyrrha spoke first, "are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

 **"ARCHERS ARE WAITING FOR US JUST AROUND THAT CORNER."**

"Yes" she said as she looked back at the block, "we'll use this as a shield to guard us from the arrows. Then we'll shoot at them from a distance with our attacks."

Kratos nodded his head in agreement as he and Pyrrha grabbed the handle on the block and began moving it towards its destination. As soon as the block was in place, the sound of arrows flying in the air and colliding with the giant stone could be heard. Pyrrha was up first as she fired two shots at the horde of Undead Archers before retreating behind the safety of the brick. Kratos did the same with Zeus's Fury, knocking out two more Archers in the process. The tactic continued until finally all of the Undead Archers were no more and the path ahead was clear. The path wasn't clear for long as two more Cerberus Pups began racing towards the red-clad warriors.

"Not these again" Pyrrha groaned as she readied her bladed weapon while Kratos brought out the Blade of Artemis. They easily sliced through the Pups and made their way around a corner to find more Undead Archers both waiting for them and guarding a wall of energy that blocked their entrance into the next room. Pyrrha transformed her weapon back into its rifle mode and fired at the Archer that perched itself onto a higher level while Kratos made quick work of the ones guarding the wall of energy. The process repeated as more Undead Archers and Cerberus Pups emerged from pits of darkness around them; with the creatures vanquished, the wall of energy disappeared and opened up a new path for them.

They entered into the room only to find nothing but a lever in the center; Kratos pulled it, causing a metal gate to close behind them and the switch to disappear into the floor itself. The room began to slowly rotate, as the gate would randomly open up to reveal a beat up treasure chest and close almost immediately. This process continued until finally the opening had reached the other side and revealed a new passage for the two to walk through. They found themselves outside once again only to be greeted by three Legionnaire Captains wielding long broadswords in one hand and a scythe in the other. Not wanting to waste any more time, Kratos activated Poseidon's Rage; thus causing the creatures to turn to dust like the other creatures before them. They surveyed the mountainside they stood next to in order to figure out their next route when Kratos noticed a few ledges above them; he motioned Pyrrha towards him and they both jumped up towards the edge and pulled themselves up with enough room to hold onto the rocky terrain. They continued going upwards until they found a small walkway carved into the mountain that was large enough for them to shimmy along; Pyrrha noticed that this path went two directions: towards the right to continue their quest, and to the left towards a small opening. She shimmied towards the opening with Kratos following suite; she continued until the pathway began to curve into the mountain itself and revealed a hidden chest. She stepped off the ledge towards the chest, pulled the lid open, reached in and found another Muse Statue.

"Another Muse Statue, now we'll be able to unlock that door."

 **"DON'T LOSE IT."**

"Got it."

After stowing it away for safekeeping, the two continued on their quest by shimmying along the ledge once again in the opposite direction; Pyrrha was amazed at the image of what was beneath her: far below the temple past the dangling chains and whirling sands from the Desert of Lost Souls was Cronos crawling on his hands and knees, with all that had transpired on the temple itself, she almost forgot that she was on top of a Titan this entire time. "What happened that could have caused a Titan to be punished so severely?" Pyrrha asked herself. "Athena, I hope you're still willing to answer my questions when this is over."

They continued alongside the mountain until they finally stepped foot back onto solid ground; their journey was halted by the appearance of two Minotaurs wielding giant, wooden hammers that approached the two. Kratos created Artemis' Blade while Pyrrha transformed her weapon into its spear formation and threw it at one of the Minotaurs with enough force to impale it onto the nearby wall. The Minotaur attempted to pull the spear out, but was unable to as its life faded and its body turned to dust. The other Minotaur that Kratos fought slammed its hammer at the Spartan only for the warrior to step to the side and slice at its stomach; the creature grabbed at the scratch in a desperate attempt to keep its innards from falling out, this left it wide open for Kratos to decapitate the beast with his own blade. The beast's headless body fell, squirting blood everywhere before disappearing into nothingness. Another Minotaur appeared from the doorway with the intent on slaying the two warriors, but never got a chance to as Pyrrha grabbed her spear from the wall and shot the beast down with her rifle.

The two entered through the newly discovered path up a small flight of a curving staircase that led to a narrow hallway that curved and opened up into a larger corridor for the two to walk into. Off to the side of this room were old statues of soldiers wearing battle armor from head to their waist, and above them were actual soldiers trapped in cages with no way of getting out or down from their prison; all above a crank without a handle. The echo of Kratos and Pyrrha's footsteps stirred the warriors to wake from their slumber and wonder at their current predicament. "What happened?" "Where are we?" "How did we get here, the last thing I remember was being locked in combat with some demons." "What's going on here?" "Look, there are two warriors heading our way!" "What?" "Thank the gods!" "You two, help us out!" "Get us down from here!"

"Don't worry, I'll have you all down momentarily" Pyrrha responded as she approached the prisoners.

 **"DON'T BOTHER WITH THEM."**

"What?"

 **"IF THEY WERE ABLE TO GET THEMSELVES CAUGHT, THEY ARE NO USE TO US."**

"You can't be serious."

 **"CLOSE YOUR HEART TO THEIR PLEES, IT IS THE ONLY WAY WE'LL BE ABLE TO GET TO PANDORA'S BOX IN ONE PIECE."**

"We can't just leave them here!"

 **"WE CAN, AND WE HAVE TO. THEY WILL ONLY SLOW US DOWN."** Kratos began walking away from the soldiers hanging above them, jumped down onto the lower level, and began walking uphill to the room that awaited them; all the while Pyrrha stood still taking in Kratos' words as well as his actions.

"You're not really going to leave us here, are you?" one of the soldiers spoke up.

"I'm sorry Kratos" Pyrrha thought to herself, "you may be the Champion of the Gods, I may not be in my own era anymore, but I'm still a Huntress…and it's my job to help those in need." She broke herself from her trance and replied to the warrior, "No. I won't." She outstretched her arms, activated her semblance and began working on releasing each warrior one cage at a time until all twenty-five of them were free.

Over with Kratos, he had just entered into the dimly lit chamber: inside this particular room held an image of Poseidon between two panels with six holes on each one for flames to shoot out of, underneath Poseidon's image lay an inscription that Kratos was about to read but saw the body of a dead soldier laying up against a wall with a note written in blood pinned next to him. Upon further inspection of the body, Kratos saw that the soldier's knife was covered in blood and his right wrist was completely cut open; he caused himself bleed to death. Kratos then read the note the stuck to the wall, **"WHAT THE GODS ASK OF ME, NO MAN COULD DO. NOT EVEN PANDORA'S BOX IS WORTH SUCH A TERRIBLE PRICE."** He then walked over to the image of Poseidon and read the burning inscription, **"SACRIFICE TO ME IN ORDER TO PROGRESS."** He looked at the dead soldier's note, then back to the inscription, and realized why the soldier took his own life. **"BY THE GODS…"** were the words that escaped his mouth as Pyrrha and the soldiers entered into the room. **"I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE THEM."**

"I couldn't do that, Kratos. I don't have it in me to leave anyone behind."

 **"WHAT HAPPENS TO THEM WILL BE BECAUSE OF YOU, I HOPE YOU REALIZE THAT."**

"I do. And so do they."

"We all came to this temple to claim Pandora's Box and make history." one soldier replied, "We've made it this far, there's no way we're running away from the opportunity of a lifetime."

 **"YOU'LL WISH YOU WOULD HAVE."**

"So" Pyrrha started, "have you found a way to advance?"

Kratos looked back at the inscription underneath Poseidon's image as he spoke, **"I KNOW WHY THESE MEN WERE LOCKED IN CAGES."**

"You do?"

He looked back at Pyrrha and the soldiers with a grim look on his face and replied, **THE GODS DEMAND SACRIFICE…FROM ALL OF US."**

"Sacrifice? You can't mean…oh my god…this room is a…"

 **"SACRIFICIAL CHAMBER."**

The soldiers started fearing for their lives, for they knew that someone would have to be slain in order to advance. Some started to question their resolve, others began mumbling words such as 'no' or 'this can't be happening' over and over again, while others started grabbing other soldiers in order to prepare them for sacrifice. Pyrrha attempted to break up the outburst and calming the situation, "Everybody calm down. NO ONE is being sacrificed. I won't allow it."

 **"IT IS THE ONLY WAY FOR US TO ADVANCE TO THE NEXT ROOM."**

"There has to be another way."

He crossed his arms as he replied, **"I'M OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS."**

Pyrrha stood in silence as she looked around the room for some sort of answer before thinking of something, "I can't believe I'm about to suggest this…"

 **"WHAT?"**

"…What if we use…him?" She said as she pointed at the corpse lying up against the wall.

Kratos sighed in disappointment, **"WE CAN'T USE HIM. THE GODS DEMAND A FRESH SACRIFICE; JUDGING FROM HOW DECAYED HIS BODY IS, HE'S BEEN DEAD FOR APPROXIMATELY A WEEK."**

"There has to be some other way…"

One of the soldiers spoke up finally, "I think I have an idea…"

"Yes?"

"You said your name was Pyrrha, correct?"

"Yes…"

"Are you…by any chance…a virgin?"

"I'm sorry…what?" Pyrrha began blushing at this question while Kratos grew a deep scowl on his face not liking where this conversation was heading.

"There have been…quite a few occasions where a god has demanded that a virgin be sacrificed in order to please them…"

"How DARE you, she saved our lives!" one soldier shouted out. "What in Tartarus is wrong with you?" another spoke up.

"I don't like it any more than any of you guys, but it's the truth. That kind of thing has happened in the past…so maybe…"

 **"I THINK WE JUST FOUND OUR VOLUNTEER"** Kratos spoke up as he headed towards the group of soldiers.

"Wait…what?"

 **"NONE OF YOU ARE TO TOUCH THIS GIRL, AND I WILL CUT DOWN ANYONE WHO EVEN ATTEMPTS TO CLAIM HER LIFE!"** He said as he reached for the soldier who suggested the idea of sacrificing Pyrrha. Despite everything that happened, Pyrrha stepped between Kratos and the soldier, not backing down whatsoever.

"Kratos…we can't do this."

 **"HE DESERVES DEATH FOR SUGGESTING SUCH A THING."**

"While I agree that he should be punished, he doesn't deserve death." The soldier of topic dropped his jaw in disbelief: he had just suggested that they sacrifice this woman to the gods and here she is standing up for him; he lowered his head in shame.

 **"I'D LOVE TO HEAR ANY OTHER IDEAS."**

Defeated, Pyrrha remained silent, as she couldn't come up with any ideas. Seeing the disappointment fall over the girl, Kratos threw the soldier back into the crowd and walked toward the note that hung next to the dead warrior. He pulled the pin out of the wall and began ripping the note into tiny pieces. On one of the pieces he smeared a small bit of blood from the dead warrior's wrist onto it and began to mix up the paper. He walked back over to the group with Pyrrha looking at his fist curiously, "what are you doing?"

 **"BEING FAIR FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE."**

"What do you mean?"

 **"NORMALLY, IN SITUATIONS LIKE THESE, THERE HAVE BEEN TIMES WHEN PEOPLE MUST DRAW STRAWS: WHOEVER DRAWS THE SHORTEST STRAW ENDS UP BEING THE ONE WHO UNDERTAKES THE TASK AT HAND. SEEING AS HOW THERE AREN'T ANY, I SMEARED BLOOD ONTO A PIECE OF PAPER. WHOEVER DRAWS THE SLIP WITH THE BLOOD SPOT ON IT IS THE ONE WHO ENDS UP BEING SACRIFICED."**

"I can't believe this is happening…Kratos…please don't."

 **"I DON'T LIKE THIS ANY MORE THAN YOU, I REALLY DON'T. BUT WE ARE OUT OF OPTIONS."** Pyrrha walked away from the group to a different part of the room with her back turned towards them; for she didn't want to have any part of what came next. Kratos watched as the girl walked away, exhaled, then turned towards the group once again, **"NOW THEN, ALL OF YOU WILL BE PULLING SLIPS."**

"All of us? What about you, what makes you so special that you are exempt from this?"

Kratos glared at the soldier who spoke up before answering, **"YOU REALLY HAVE NO IDEA WHO I AM, DO YOU?"**

All of the soldiers took a closer look at the hulk of a man that stood before them, taking in every detail. "Red tattoos…" "A Spartan by the design of his kilt…" "Chains on his wrists…" "Ashen covered skin…" "The girl said his name was Kratos…" After taking in the details of who stood before them, horror dawned on them once again but to a greater degree. "By the gods…" "It can't be…" "This man…" "He's…he's the…" "The Ghost of Sparta…." "He does exist…" "Olympus' Champion…" "The Cursed Warrior…" There were no more objections after this realization. After each warrior received a slip of paper, they all unfolded their sheets; twenty-four sighed in relief, while one gasped in horror. The unfortunate soul to grab the sheet was, surprisingly, not the soldier that suggested sacrificing Pyrrha; but was another warrior entirely. He clenched his fist tightly before exhaling and turning his face towards the ceiling in defeat.

 **"GO GRAB ONE OF THE CAGES THAT PYRRHA FREED YOU FROM AND BRING IT HERE."** They marched out of the chamber downhill towards one of the undamaged cage that Pyrrha freed them from and began to slowly push it uphill.

"There has to be another way," Pyrrha thought to herself. Her concentration was broken at the sound of two different screams coming from downhill; she and the others inside the chamber raced towards the entrance to witness a single Legionnaire Captain tossing the carcass of the chosen soldier from his broadsword and stalking the remaining warrior. Pyrrha's gut reaction was to race towards the battle and end it before the warrior was killed, but stopped herself to think about the situation at hand; she then turned to Kratos and asked, "Kratos, what is the exact translation of the inscription beneath Poseidon's image?"

 **"SACRIFICE TO ME IN ORDER TO PROGRESS."**

"Sacrifice to me in order to progress…sacrifice to me…" her eyes perked up after thinking it over, "I've got it!" She yelled as she ran towards the Legionnaire Captain.

 **"PYRRHA, WAIT!"** Kratos yelled as he began to run after her.

The Legionnaire Captain raised its scythe to slay the remaining soldier, but was unable to as Pyrrha threw her shield at the weapon, causing the scythe to fly out of its hand. The creature turned towards the direction of the shield and readied its broadsword to cut down Pyrrha; only for the Invincible Girl to block the strike and judo toss the beast into a nearby wall. Kratos was about to hurl a bolt of lightning at the creature, but Pyrrha shouted towards him, "Kratos wait! Don't kill it! It's part of the plan!"

 **"PLAN?"**

"It's as you said yourself, the text says 'sacrifice to me in order to progress.' It never said anything about sacrificing a human."

Catching on, Kratos looked at the creature as it slowly recovered from Pyrrha's last attack and then back at Pyrrha, **"ARE YOU SUGGESTING THAT WE…"**

"Yes, I am."

Kratos looked back at the Legionnaire Captain as it let out a roar towards the two warriors; Kratos' response came in the form of a very sinister grin that spread across his face. He then turned to the warrior that Pyrrha rescued, **"WARRIOR, OPEN THE CAGE! THERE'S BEEN A CHANGE OF PLAN!"**

"What do you mean by…"

 **"JUST DO AS I SAY!"**

"Got it!" The warrior opened the door of the cage as the Legionnaire Captain charged towards the two warriors with its broadsword still in hand."

 **"PYRRHA, NOW!"**

Pyrrha activated her semblance once more to fling the creature into the cage by its armor and locked the door as soon as it entered. The creature roared in frustration as it banged onto the sides of the cage in an attempt to free itself; as it continued to roar, pits of darkness started popping up from around the three warriors. Out of these pits emerged more Legionnaire Captains that made a b-line towards Pyrrha and Kratos. "Soldier!" Pyrrha shouted, "Push the cage into the sacrificial chamber, we'll guard you while you do."

"Wait…we're going to sacrifice this thing?"

 **"ARE YOU VOLUNTEERING TO REPLACE THE SOLDIER WE LOST?"**

"NO! I want to live! I'll start pushing!"

Kratos and Pyrrha stayed close to the soldier as he pushed the caged monster uphill while firing bolts of lightning at the oncoming horde of Legionnaire Captains. There were a few moments when Pyrrha was forced to use her semblance to push the beasts further downhill away from the group, while Kratos continued to hurl bolts of lightning at the creatures and creating a shockwave with his blades every once in a while. After repeating this process for what seemed like an eternity, the group finally made it to the chamber; the warriors waiting up top parted in order to let the caged beast make its way towards a panel in front of the image of Poseidon. Kratos and Pyrrha continued their defensive tactics at the entrance to make sure the process didn't get interrupted; the remaining warriors watched as the panels on the side of Poseidon began to move towards the creature and eventually turning towards the left and right side of the cage. Once it was lined up, the warriors inside started screaming, "DO IT!" "PULL THE LEVER!" One warrior pulled the lever, causing flames to shoot out of the holes and burn the Legionnaire Captain to death; the creature roared in pain and agony as the cage lowered into the floor and the panels moved back in place. Two things happened as the panels moved back next towards the image of Poseidon: the first thing to occur was the image of the sea-god ascending into the ceiling to reveal a new path for everyone to follow. The second was the remaining Legionnaire Captains that Kratos and Pyrrha fought disappeared into nothingness. All the men cheered as the door opened up for them with some of them commenting along the lines of "I can't believe that actually worked" or "By the gods, that actually worked." The warriors parted once again to allow Kratos and Pyrrha lead the way out of the horrid chamber and onto the next challenge.

Before entering the newly created path, Kratos looked back onto the battlefield that was now littered with broadswords and scythes, **"BEFORE WE PROGRESS ANY FURTHER, I HIGHLY ADVISE ALL OF YOU TO ARM YOURSELVES."** The soldiers looked towards the ruins that Kratos pointed at and began collecting the weapons that were left behind by the slain Legionnaire Captains.

All the while, Pyrrha couldn't help but feel like she was being watched; she didn't know it, but her instincts were right. For a certain God of Time and Space stood in his temple clapping at the young Huntress' achievement, "Well done Pyrrha, well done. I knew you would be able to conquer this challenge. However…" Khronos began saying as he clutched his stomach as if remembering a painful memory, "you may have been able to cleverly deduce your way out of this puzzle, but don't start thinking that the gods will reward ALL of your ways of thinking outside the box…you have no idea how treacherous they really are." At the conclusion of his sentence, an image of a younger Poseidon, Hades, and Zeus wielding the Blade of Olympus appeared before him in his mirror. "You have no idea" Khronos repeated.

* * *

 **Author's Note: HOLY HELL THIS WAS A LONG CHAPTER! If memory serves correct, this is the scene that everybody has been looking forward to since the very beginning. I hope I didn't disappoint, if I did please leave an educational critique in the comment section. Anyways, here's a heads up for everyone: I'm going to be starting summer school very soon and then once I finish up with that, I will be officially DONE with college! So be prepared to see chapters being delayed like "Kingdom Hearts III" on a lesser scale. Hope you all enjoy this newest chapter.**


	14. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own "God of War" or "RWBY"; "God of War" belongs to Santa Monica Studios, while "RWBY" belongs to RoosterTeeth.**

After the soldiers finished collecting the weapons left behind by the defeated demons, they along with Pyrrha and Kratos made their way through the newly created passage; the sound of armored feet moving as one could be heard throughout the newly formed hallway that continued downward. The passage wasn't long as it only took them ten seconds to get from the sacrificial chamber to a room with a cracked walkway surrounded on both sides by water. The door closed behind them as they took in the image of what lay before them: a room that possessed two different elevated spaces on either sides above water that could be reached by climbing the ladders that one could swim to; the room also possessed three different statues at the end of the walkway: two human sized statues of mermaids holding candles in one hand and a giant statue of Poseidon himself holding his trident in front of him. In front of Poseidon's statue rested a glowing, golden trident that had its bottom end encased in blue crystal. Kratos, Pyrrha, and the soldiers began to inspect the area in an attempt to find some form of clue on how to progress; one of the soldiers spoke up after searching the waters beneath him.

"Hey guys, come over here!"

Everyone gathered toward the soldier to see what he may have found. He pointed toward a circular hole in the water located near the entrance, which was now closed.

"How far do you think it goes?" One warrior asked.

"I don't know…in this temple though, I wouldn't be surprised if it's a long ways."

"If that's the case, then there's no way any of us can hold our breath for that long. We'd be dead long before we reached wherever it leads us."

 **"** **UNLESS…"** Kratos said as he made his way towards Poseidon's trident.

"What's he doing?"

Kratos grabbed the trident near the area where the crystals were located; he grunted as he attempted to pull the trident out of its crystal prison. With one final grunt he was able to free the trident from its encasing, twirled it the opposite direction, and slammed the fork end back into the crystals in order to trap it once again. With the trident now upside-down, the mermaids next to Poseidon's statue briefly came to life and looked at the group that stood before them. The entire group readied themselves for combat as the statues spoke. They then began to freak out as they noticed their entire beings were glowing as the statues spoke.

"You have acquired Poseidon's Trident" the first statue spoke.

"With this item you can explore the depths of Lord Poseidon's domain." She said as they both returned to their sleeping state and the glowing died down. It took a while, but the soldiers eventually relaxed when they saw nothing else happening.

"Ok…that was…something." Pyrrha said as she relaxed.

"What was that glowing just now?" one soldier asked.

"Spartan, what did you do?" another soldier asked.

Kratos looked at his forearms before walking towards the edge of the walkway and staring into the water; he looked back at the trident before a thought ran through his mind. **"YOU CAN NOW EXPLORE THE DEPTHS OF POSEIDON'S DOMAIN,"** he thought to himself. He backed away from the statue of Poseidon and dived into the waters at the right of the walkway. Pyrrha and the warriors watched in confusion as Kratos made his way through the water towards the hole the warrior from earlier discovered. Before he continued through the hole, Kratos stayed where he was in the water and began to breathe through his nose. He was surprised when he noticed that it wasn't water that went into his nose…but air. He made his way back to the group and breached the surface of the water without gasping for air.

"What did you discover, Kratos?" Pyrrha asked.

 **"** **I CAN BREATHE UNDERWATER."**

"What?" One soldier asked. "How is that possible?"

Kratos climbed back up onto the walkway to join the others, looking at the upside-down trident as he did. **"THE GLOW…IT MUST HAVE GIVEN US THE ABILITY TO BREATHE UNDERWATER AFTER I FLIPPED THE TRIDENT."**

Intrigued at the discovery, Pyrrha jumped into the water to see for herself if what Kratos said was true. She spent a minute underwater before resurfacing without gasping for air like Kratos, "It's true, we all can now breathe underwater. It'll be extremely helpful in order to go to and from places now."

With Pyrrha confirming Kratos' discovery, the soldiers placed their weapons either into their hilts or onto their backs and jumped into the water. Kratos jumped into the water again and descended into the tunnel with Pyrrha and the others following behind him. They all swam through the tunnel made of brick until they came across a cracked image of Poseidon blocking their way. Kratos crunched his body and propelled himself through the water, demolishing the obstacle. Concrete floated everywhere as the others moved forward with Kratos repeating the action two more times before beginning to ascend through the waters. The group continued swimming upwards until they breached the surface and stumbled across a cave completely filled with stalagmites, water that barely reached above a person's ankles, a door with a horned figure's head decorating it, and multiple Cerberus Pups waiting to attack anyone that approached. Kratos charged the pups with Pyrrha and the other soldiers following suite. Realizing that the room still had water in it, Pyrrha shouted towards Kratos as he fought against a group of pups.

"Kratos!"

 **"** **WHAT?"**

"Whatever you do, don't use any electric-based attacks in here!" she said as she slashed at a pup that launched itself at her.

 **"** **FOR WHAT REASON?"** Kratos said as he himself slashed a pup in half.

"Water conducts electricity, thus amplifying an electrical current. If you use either of your electrical attacks in here, it'll reach everyone in this cave no matter how far away from you we are." She said as she continued slashing at more and more pups that continued to pop from pits of darkness.

 **"** **HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS?"**

"I learned about it from my teachers in my home."

 **"** **I'VE USED IT PLENTY OF TIMES WITH YOU CLOSE BY AND DIDN'T HARM YOU!"**

"My guess is it's because we were chosen by the Gods themselves to undertake this task; these soldiers were not and thus not given that kind of immunity!"

The soldiers dodged and struck down any and every pup that attacked them; one blocked an oncoming fireball with the blade of his sword while another sliced a pup in half with his scythe. Another was able to dodge out of the way of a flaming pup that barely grazed his leg; he fought through the pain and was able to cut down a pup that awaited him. The soldiers continued the onslaught until the pups finally stopped appearing from the flooded ground. "We did it!" one shouted, "All right!" shouted another. The cave echoed with the sound of soldiers congratulating each other on a successful battle. Kratos looked around and walked towards the door with the horned creature on it, noticed a handle at the bottom, grabbed it, and lifted it upwards to reveal a lever. Kratos pulled the lever, stood there for a few seconds, and heard the sound of stone moving echoing in the cave everyone stood in. Everyone stood still wondering what was happening, but their thoughts drifted away when they saw Kratos and Pyrrha making their way back towards the flooded tunnel that they arrived from.

Kratos and Pyrrha were the first to arrive back at the chamber and onto the walkway where they were greeted by a Cerberus Dog and multiple Harpies flying down from the ceiling. One of the heads shot multiple fireballs at the two, only for the barrage to be blocked by Pyrrha's shield. Pyrrha transformed her xiphos into its rifle mode and began firing at the Harpies while Kratos charged at the Cerberus Dog. Pyrrha followed suite as soon as the final Harpy was shot down: the Cerberus Dog lunged forward and attempted to swipe at Kratos with its paw, only for Kratos to roll out of the way for Pyrrha to parry the attack with her shield. Kratos then slashed at one of the heads while Pyrrha did the same after her initial parry. The heads on the side attempted to bite at both Kratos and Pyrrha but missed as they dodged out of the way and threw both of their bladed weapons at the heads. Pyrrha's spear and Kratos' blade lodged themselves into the beast's heads, leaving it only with one functioning head now. Kratos pulled on his chain to return his weapon to his hand as he walked toward the beast while Pyrrha used her semblance to recall her spear from the head she killed. They stood side by side as Pyrrha transformed her weapon into its rifle mode once more and Kratos charged up Zeus' Fury; at the very moment the beast decided to charge them once more, Kratos threw the lightning bolt at the same time Pyrrha pulled the trigger. The combined lightning-based attacks merged and disintegrated the beast before it realized what happened.

As the two re-sheathed their weapons, the warriors that Pyrrha freed approached the two to congratulate the two on defeating the creatures.

"That was amazing! I've never seen anyone take down a Cerberus Dog so effortlessly like that!"

"Thank you" Pyrrha politely said.

"Pyrrha Nikos, if you don't mind my asking, where did you get your weapon from? I've never seen or heard of a weapon that's able to transform like yours does."

"Oh, you mean Miló?" She said as she unsheathed her weapon once more.

 **"** **YOU NAMED YOUR WEAPON?"** Kratos asked in an almost judging way.

"Of course; all warriors from my home who make their own weapon name them in order to signify how special they are to us."

"You made that?" One warrior asked.

"Well…yes and no. The original one was destroyed in combat before I met up with Kratos. Hephaestus ended up re-making it for me at the request of Athena."

 **"** **DESTROYED IN COMBAT? SHE HAD PROBLEMS FIGHTING AN OPPONENT? FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN, THIS GIRL SEEMS TO BE INVINCIBLE…LIKE ACHILLES"** Kratos thought to himself, **"WHO OR WHAT COULD SHE HAVE BEEN FIGHTING TO GIVE HER A HARD TIME?"** He head turned upwards as he pondered the questions in his mind; during the pondering, his eyes caught glimpse of a circular hole just above the statue of Poseidon. His eyes trailed beneath the hole to find that there was now a new set of stone blocks acting as a makeshift staircase in order to reach the hole. **"THE QUESTIONS WILL HAVE TO WAIT, RIGHT NOW WE NEED TO CONTINUE FORWARD,"** he thought to himself as he made his way towards it.

One of the soldiers caught the image of Kratos moving towards Poseidon's statue and spoke up, "Hey, where's the Ghost of Sparta going?" The entire crowd stopped asking Pyrrha questions and turned their gaze towards Kratos as he began jumping on top of the blocks.

"He found a way out!"

"But…how? Those steps weren't there before."

"It must've been when he pulled the lever in the other room" Pyrrha spoke up, "do you all remember the sound that we heard while we were in the cave? It must've been those blocks moving into place."

"It's the only thing that makes sense; either way we shouldn't stay here. Let's go."

One by one the soldiers climbed up the newly formed blocks in order to catch up with Kratos; Pyrrha led the way as they advanced upwards. They walked through the newly found and dimly lit tunnel with their footsteps echoing off the walls; the tunnel they walked through was almost a perfect circle had it not been for a few boulders protruding from the wall every five feet on all sides. During the walk, one of the soldiers silently sparked a conversation with the other warriors.

"I still can't believe we're being led by the Ghost of Sparta of all people, we may as well be heading to our graves."

"We're in Pandora's Temple; we dug our own graves the second we stepped foot onto Cronos' back."

"I know, but Kratos isn't exactly known for keeping people alive."

"We're alive now, aren't we?"

"All because of the girl."

"The girl whom you suggested we sacrifice."

"It was a fact that everyone else knew about even if they didn't want to admit it."

"You do realize she shares the same name as Achilles' alias, right?"

"What about it?"

"You've seen her fight alongside the Ghost of Sparta, do you really think any of us could have taken her back there? Especially with him standing by?"

"I'm actually quite surprised he of all people defended her…"

"You know what else is surprising?"

"What?"

"How much of an echo this tunnel makes. So you guys should probably stop talking about them before…" The soldier never got to finish his sentence as the group came to a halt in front of a small drop that led to a flooded passage where they would all have to swim through. Before they continued their path, Kratos turned around and addressed them:

 **"** **YOU WERE RIGHT"** he said to one of the soldiers, **"BECAUSE OF THE ECHO IN THIS TUNNEL, I WAS ABLE TO HEAR EVERY WORD THE GOSSIPERS SPOKE. QUITE FRANKLY, I DO NOT CARE WHAT ANY OF YOU THINK ABOUT ME, NOR WHETHER ANY OF YOU LIVE OR DIE. YOU ARE NOT MY RESPONSIBILTY, BUT HERS."** he said pointing to Pyrrha who smiled nervously. **"YOU SHOULD BE THANKING HER FOR SPARING YOUR LIVES, BECAUSE IF IT WERE UP TO ME, I WOULD HAVE LEFT YOU ALL DANGLING IN THOSE CAGES.** **I AM NOT HERE TO BECOME A HERO OR FOR RECOGNITION, BUT TO KILL ARES FOR WHAT HE'S DONE. NO ONE IS FORCING YOU TO STAY AND FOLLOW US, YOU CAN HEAD BACK THE WAY WE CAME ANY TIME YOU LIKE…OR YOU CAN PULL YOUR OWN WEIGHT, STOP COMPLAINING, AND FACE YOUR DEATHS LIKE A WARRIOR INSTEAD OF LIKE A SNIVELLING COWARD."** As Kratos finished his monologue, he turned away from them and walked into the water until his entire being was submerged.

There was silence afterwards with Pyrrha being the one to break it. "I heard your conversation as well; however, I'm not going to berate you like Kratos did. But he is right about one thing: neither of us are forcing any of you to continue on this journey. Some of you might have loved ones that you miss dearly, and I will not keep you from them. However, if you don't continue this journey, you might not have a family to return to. For Ares is attacking Athens as we speak, and the only way to stop him is to retrieve Pandora's Box. Yes, Kratos has a tragic and bloody past, but if we stick with him we will have a better chance at succeeding and conquering this temple." As she turned to walk into the water, she stopped and turned back to face the soldiers once again, "To tell you the truth, I too am shocked that Kratos defended me in the Sacrificial Chamber."

The soldiers all congregated with themselves as Pyrrha made her way into the water. Before she was fully submerged, one soldier called out to her to catch her attention. She turned around to see the soldiers on bended knee and heads bowed with their weapons at their side.

"Pyrrha Nikos…the Ghost of Sparta is right about another thing: we truly are grateful that you saved our lives."

"If it weren't for your quick thinking, one of us would have been sacrificed. For that we are eternally in your debt."

"Because of that, we would walk with you and the Spartan to the darkest pit of Tartarus if need be."

"If what you say about Ares attacking Athens is true, then we must continue this journey no matter what."

They all rose to their feet and placed their weapons on either their backs or to their sides as one spoke up again, "we are with you…Lady Pyrrha."

Pyrrha smiled, blushed, and scratched the back of her hair before speaking again, "Please, there's no need for that kind of formality. Just call me Pyrrha." With that, the young Huntress and the soldiers walked into the water and began their descent into the watery passage.

Kratos waited for Pyrrha in the ruins of a chamber that now lay underwater, keeping himself floating in place. He scoffed as he saw Pyrrha swimming towards him with the other soldiers right behind her with determined looks on their faces. He stared at Pyrrha with an annoyed look visible for all to see who merely shrugged at the gesture. He shook his head as he swam ahead of the crowd to lead the way. They swam past destroyed columns until they came face to face with a translucent being that just floated in the water with light shining down on her: a Nyad. A mermaid-like being who was a child of Poseidon; many have drowned for a chance just to embrace her. Upon seeing Kratos swim towards her, the Nyad playfully swam around the Spartan. Pyrrha rolled her eyes knowing that the Nyad was flirting while Kratos grinned knowing the same thing. He swam next to her and held her arms behind her back as he kissed the Nyad. Bubbles came from the Nyad's mouth as she giggled and swam beneath the group to reveal a metal opening for them to follow. They descended further into another room with destroyed columns and were greeted with a wall with the image of Poseidon himself decorating it. Kratos began to inspect the flooded environment until he saw chains off to both sides of the image of sea-God; he swam to Pyrrha and pointed towards the chains. She looked at him and nodded her head, knowing exactly what he was asking of her. She swam to place herself directly in the middle of where the chains were located, closed her eyes, outstretched her arms towards the direction of the chains, and activated her semblance. Her arms glowed black as she focused on moving the chains; they resisted at first, but with enough focus, Pyrrha caused the chains to rotate in order for the wall with Poseidon's image on it to ascend and reveal a new path. Kratos, Pyrrha, and the soldiers all swam through the newly discovered passage; and when every single person went through, Pyrrha released her semblance. The gears began to spin as the wall closed behind them, cutting off their exit.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Guess who's baaaaaaaaack? Did you guys miss me? I sure as hell missed this. I didn't forget about this, I was just having way too much fun now that I'm finally done with college FOREVER! Freedom! It feels so good to finally be free! I apologize for the wait and I also want to address something: *clearing throat* Ahem...a while back I was asked by two individuals why I have Kratos' text the way it is. Answer: I originally had the idea of having each individual character have their own style to better show who's speaking; however, due to FanFiction having limited options to choose from, this is what I came up with. Anyways, hope you all enjoy this latest chapter, and I look forward to continuing this story.**


	15. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own "God of War" or "RWBY". "God of War" belongs to Santa Monica Studios, while "RWBY" belongs to RoosterTeeth.**

The group continued to swim through the underwater ruins, passing by boulders the size of a Minotaur until they came to another statue of Poseidon. The statue's arms were outstretched from the head and torso, and resting on the ground in front of them as if he were sitting on a throne. Between his arms shown another bright light to reveal where the travelers would go next. The group began to descend further until Kratos and Pyrrha noticed something at the bottom as well as hearing a loud cranking sound; they motioned for the group to halt as they began to inspect their findings. They squinted their eyes to get a better look, only to have their gaze turn to confusion as they finally made out what they saw as well as heard: a long link of chain that looked as if it were pulling something away towards them. Before they descended further, a large object flew underneath them at an alarming speed. They peeked their heads through the opening after the object flew past to see that it was a giant wall being pulled by the chains itself. Pyrrha turned around and pulled Kratos up with her as she saw another wall coming towards them; preventing Kratos from losing his head. They looked at each other as her hands began to glow, showing Kratos the plan; he looked at her and nodded in approval as Pyrrha descended into the hallway and halted the chains. She looked up towards Kratos who motioned towards the other soldiers to start swimming towards their destination. Pyrrha stayed in place as each soldier passed her and began swimming towards the other end of the underwater passage; as the last soldier descended, Pyrrha herself began to swim alongside the group while not letting her semblance up for a single moment. She knew what would happen if she did, and she was determined to not let that come to pass. The group continued swimming down this hallway until they finally came to another beam of light that showed them their next destination: another hole beneath them that descended further down into the temple. One by one, Kratos and the soldiers made their descent and waited until each and every last person made it; with Pyrrha being the last person to descend and finally releasing her hold on the chains and allowing the wall to once again move towards and above them at an alarming speed. One soldier took Pyrrha gently by the shoulder and looked at her to ask if she was doing ok; she returned the look with a soft smile as to say 'yes' and 'thank you for asking.'

This new underwater passage also possessed rubble on the ground, but not as much as the previous halls. It proved to be a short journey: for once the entire group swam through an entrance that awaited them immediately after their descent, a wall with Poseidon's image on it closed behind them once again. The group turned around in shock at this sudden development and was about to convince Pyrrha to open it, had they not seen the direction that Kratos was swimming: for Kratos began swimming up. The group then began their ascent and after breaching the surface, they found that they were now in a new chamber. This new room was massive as it possessed waterfalls in practically every corner of the room, and a small platform in the shape of a lowercase 'n' with giant stone torches on both sides to light the room and a lever in the center. The most impressive feature of this room though was the elevated platform high above everything else that held a giant statue of Poseidon's wife, Amphitrite, holding a trident of her own. The entire room would have been pleasing to look at had it not been for four Minotaurs with bones protruding from their spines, shoulders, and forearms wielding massive wooden hammers walking in a patrol formation on the platform in front of them.

Kratos and Pyrrha were about to move towards opposite ends of the platform had a soldier with a thick brown goatee not spoken up to catch their attention. "Pyrrha, Kratos… if I may bend your ears for a brief moment…"

"What is it" Pyrrha asked.

"I have an idea on how to deal with those Minotaurs on the platform."

 **"** **WE ALREADY HAVE A PLAN: POWER THROUGH AND KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM."**

"As 'fun' as that may sound… this method, if done correctly, will prove to be quicker and will guarantee everyone's survival."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Those beasts haven't spotted us yet, I suggest that we split up into four groups of six and swim carefully towards the platform. Once a Minotaur reaches the spot where we are all positioned, we all grab those creatures by the hooves, drag them into the water, and finish them off quickly."

 **"** **USING STEALTH? HOW COWARDLY."**

"It may sound cowardly to you, but this will help us get out of this room faster and we will be one step closer to Pandora's Box. Pyrrha, what do you think?"

"I actually like this idea. What's your name soldier?"

"My name is Xanatos. Lieutenant of the Athenian army."

"Lieutenant Xanatos…we'll try this plan, despite Kratos' protest."

Kratos only scoffed as he made his way towards the platform with five other soldiers following behind him.

"Ok… Kratos seems to be following along for now… I just hope he actually sticks to the plan. I'll head towards the inner edge with five other men."

"I'll head over to the other edge of the platform with another five" Pyrrha said as she began swimming underwater.

"Alesandro" Xanatos called to one soldier with scratch marks on his lips and right bicep, "you and the rest take the inner edge opposite of my group."

"Understood sir."

They all descended into the waters once again and swam as quietly and calmly as they could without drawing the attention of the beasts that continued walking on the platform above them. Kratos and his group reached their end first and waited for the others to get into place while keeping an eye on the Minotaurs above them. Pyrrha's group was next to arrive, then Xanatos' group, and finally Alesandro's. Xanatos unsheathed his sword and held his hands up as if to say 'not yet, steady, steady…" while the Minotaurs walked on the platform above them. The beasts continued to walk past each other in their formation and briefly stopped at each section of the platform. Xanatos gave the signal to attack right when the creatures stopped walking around: each soldier's hands exploded from the water and found their way towards the hooves of their Minotaurs. The beasts never saw it coming and found themselves being pulled into the waters below and brutally stabbed to death by Kratos, Pyrrha, and the soldiers. The water around each group began turning red with each stab made into the Minotaurs until they finally turned to nothingness.

With the bodies of the Minotaurs disintegrated, everyone in the water grabbed onto the platform and pulled themselves up onto it and congratulated each other on a job well done. Xanatos then turned to Kratos with a smile on his lips, "see, I told you it would be quick and easy."

 **"** **WATCH YOUR TONE, LIEUTENANT"** Kratos emphasizing the last word, **"WE'RE NOT OUT OF PANDORA'S TEMPLE JUST YET."** Kratos pulled on the lever just as everyone pulled themselves out of the water; the lever caused four giant bronze colored platforms to emerge from the water-filled room with each platform higher than the previous one leading up towards the statue of Amphitrite. The entire group ran and jumped onto the platforms one at a time with Kratos and Pyrrha reaching the statue first, shortly followed by Xanatos and Alesandro, and finally six other soldiers. The rest found themselves descending along with the platforms back into the waters below; thanks to the ability to breathe underwater, none of them were harmed as they resurfaced moments later.

"A time trial?" Pyrrha remarked as she saw the soldiers re-emerge from the waters and swim towards the lever once more.

Kratos paid little attention to Pyrrha's question, as his focus was more on the six dark pits currently appearing before them on the already semi-crowded platform.

Xanatos spoke up as Kratos reached for his weapons. "Men, quickly gather around a pit and start stabbing these things the moment they show their ugly faces. Go, go, go!" The soldiers quickly gathered around a pit and began stabbing at the arms and faces of Fallen Legionnaires that attempted to rise; their bodies turned to ash just as quickly as they emerged. With the threat neutralized, Kratos made his way towards a pedestal, which held a book that stood in front of the statue of Amphitrite.

"What does it say?" Pyrrha asked.

 **"** **IT SAYS, 'AMPHITRITE, POSEIDON'S FAITHFUL WIFE, WILL FOREVER WATCH OVER THIS CURSED ROOM. ONLY SHE KNOWS THE SECRET WAY OUT."**

"Anything else?" Xanatos asked.

 **"** **NO. IT'S NOW UP TO US TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THIS MEANS."**

"Alesandro, call out to our brothers below to begin searching for clues on how to get out of this chamber."

"At once, Lieutenant."

Everyone on both platforms began inspecting their areas for any kind of clues as to what the book meant; some inspected the painting on the torches, others attempted to look behind the statue itself, but couldn't find anything. Kratos and Pyrrha stood in place long and hard at both the text and the statue itself until they both noticed something about the statue.

"Xanatos," Pyrrha called out, "can you come over here for a quick second?"

"Have you found a clue?"

 **"** **POSSIBLY. DO YOU NOTICE ANYTHING ABOUT THE STATUE OF AMPHITRITE?"**

Xanatos turned his gaze onto the statue of the goddess and inspected every inch until he finally noticed two interesting details. "I think I do…"

"What do you see?"

"Two things: the first being that Lady Amphitrite's gaze seems to be focused on something behind us. The second thing being that her right hand seems to be pointing at something in the same direction as her gaze."

 **"** **HAVE ONE OF YOUR MEN PULL THE LEVER ON THE LOWER PLATFORM; WE'LL WORK FROM THERE."**

Xanatos walked to the edge of the platform and called out towards one of his soldiers who was closest to the lever, "Mateo! We need your assistance!"

The one named Mateo turned around and responded back, "What would you have me do, Lieutenant Xanatos?"

"I need you to pull the lever to raise the platforms!"

"Got it!" Mateo did as instructed and pulled the lever to raise the platforms from the waters once more. Xanatos moved out of the way of Amphitrite's pointing hand and followed its direction; noting that she was pointing directly at the final platform in front of them. He then got an idea and called out to Mateo once again.

"Mateo, swim towards this final platform as quickly as you can and tell us what you find."

Mateo looked at his fellow soldiers with confusion, but ultimately did as he was told and jumped back into the water and swam towards the tallest platform as fast as he could. He then descended into the water and continued going deeper as something caught his eye: an opening wide enough to fit people into it. The opening disappeared though as time ran out again and the platforms fell back into the waters. Mateo began swimming up towards the surface while this transpired and called out with excitement, "I found a way out!"

 **"** **WHAT DID YOU SEE?"**

"There's an opening underneath the final platform; however it only stays open for a short while before it disappears when the platforms descend into the water!"

"Did you notice anything else?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah, moving gears on every single one of those things."

 **"** **NOW THAT WE KNOW WHAT WE'RE DEALING WITH, HERE'S THE PLAN: WE'LL HAVE ONE PERSON HEAD BACK TOWARDS THE LEVER TO PULL IT WHILE THE REST OF US WAIT OUTSIDE THE FINAL PLATFORM TO WAIT FOR THAT OPENING. PYRRHA WILL USE HER ABILITIES TO HOLD THE PLATFORM'S GEARS IN PLACE WHILE BOTH HER AND WHOEVER PULLS THE LEVER SWIM TOWARDS THE OPENING AND REJOIN US; SHE'LL RELEASE HER HOLD AND WE'LL ALL GET OUT OF THIS ROOM. AGREED?"**

"Agreed" said everyone on the platform. Xanatos ordered Alesandro to head back towards the rest of the group to inform the others of the plan. Once that was done, all of the soldiers except for Pyrrha and one other dove into the waters once more and waited for the platform to rise and reveal the way out. The one soldier pulled on the lever and immediately dove into the waters after he let go of the handle. The platforms began to rise once more and revealed the opening that Mateo mentioned earlier; Kratos and the soldiers all swam into the opening and waited for Pyrrha and the final soldier to join them. Pyrrha was the last to enter in with them as she managed to keep her semblance activated before finally releasing it, causing the gears to spin quickly to let the platform push every single person down towards another tunnel. One by one, each individual exited the underwater elevator and swam down this new tunnel; they swam for what seemed like forever until the tunnel led up towards the surface and into a room. Once they breached the surface, the group found that they were back in the room with the giant diamond that was split into two.

"Huh… we're back here again…" Pyrrha nonchalantly replied.

"The Rings of Pandora… I didn't think we'd ever make it back here again" said Xanatos.

 **"** **WE NEED TO KEEP MOVING."** Kratos said as he and Pyrrha made their way down the hallway. Once every single soldier stepped into the hallway, a red-orange colored barrier emerged from both ends and trapping everyone inside while eight Armored Legionnaires wielding glowing golden shields crawled from pits of darkness.

Kratos charged up his blades and slammed them into the ground to release a powerful wave of energy that expanded around him and the group to destroy the shields that the Armored Legionnaires carried. The creatures were utterly defenseless as they were now badly outnumbered ill-equipped while the soldiers grouped up and struck them down, and turning them to nothingness. The barriers disappeared as the group of soldiers finished off the last creature.

The group exited the hallway and made their way towards the lever that rotated the entrances; confused as to why they ran all the way towards the lever, Alesandro spoke up. "Not to be rude Spartan, but why did we run all the way towards the lever? Wouldn't it make more sense to head towards the inner ring?"

 **"** **AND WE WILL… WE JUST NEED TO DROP SOMETHING OFF FIRST."**

"Drop something off?" Mateo questioned them.

"Kratos and I found a door with missing Muse statues on it. We found one statue already, and want to put the other one back in place so we don't have to worry about it anymore… also to see what lays behind that door." Pyrrha replied, putting them at ease… somewhat. The soldiers looked at each other in confusion, but ultimately shrugged it off and prepared themselves to start moving along with the floor. Kratos began turning the handle, thus moving the floor and forcing Xanatos and his men to start running like they were on a treadmill. Finally, they all came to a stop once the door with the images of the Muses on it appeared before them. Kratos walked up to the door and placed the remaining Muse statue into the slot, stepped back, and watched what happened next: the two slots glowed and the door descended into the floor to reveal a room with a giant stone head of Zeus with glowing red eyes hanging from the ceiling with sand pouring out of his mouth, along with two other unknown faces on separate sides of the room, one with green eyes and the other with blue eyes, that also poured sand from their mouths. At the other end of the entrance rested a book resting on a pedestal to which Kratos approached; he read the text and let out a small, barely audible chuckle of relief.

"What does it say?" Pyrrha asked.

 **"** **IT READS: WHILE THE GODS HAVE HIDDEN PANDORA'S BOX WELL, THEY ARE NOT WITHOUT MERCY. USE THESE MAGICAL SANDS – GIFTS FROM THE OLYMPIANS – TO INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF REACHING YOUR GOAL. -PATHOS VERDES III, CHIEF ARCHITECT AND LOYAL SUBJECT OF THE GODS."**

Upon hearing this, the soldiers rejoiced and split up to soak in the sands that replenished their strength, their vigor, and healed them of their wounds. Kratos and Pyrrha were the final ones to take part in the bathing by sands; however, their experience was a tiny bit different from the others. For when they both stepped into the sands that the blue-eyed statue was pouring out, they noticed that their weapons and entire beings glowed blue before returning to normal. This head strengthened their magical abilities, and they could feel the newfound power pulse from every weapon… including Medusa's head that was wrapped from Kratos' kilt. They then stepped into the sands that flowed from the green-eyed statue's mouth and received an extra boost of energy. Finally, they stepped onto the pedestal located underneath the giant head of Zeus and felt their strength increase tremendously. After looking over their arms, they walked out of the room to rejoin the group and made their way towards the inner circle, walked up the stairs that Kratos and Pyrrha walked up in order to avoid the giant wheel and jumped into the flooded circle. They descended again into another small hole and continued swimming through the tunnel for quite a while, going through many different turns. They finally resurfaced and found themselves walking through a corridor with a sharp right turn that possessed torches hanging above them as well as a few bricks missing from the wall. They ran down the hall and past two giant stone statues of Zeus and down the steps of the interestingly placed altar. They stepped into a large room with lava pouring from the roof and into a trough high above them on opposite ends of the room, a giant door just north of them that had metal spikes on both sides with flames on their ends. Just south of them was another staircase made of cement that led towards a level where metal bars were curved into a bridge-like shape, and off to the side were metal bars spread out almost in the form of a peacock's tail that held multiple logs with sharpened ends behind it. In front of it was a lever along with a small tunnel that led towards the center of the level.

Pyrrha and Kratos's attention were drawn towards the giant door on the other end of the room and began walking towards it. As they walked, Kratos called one of the soldiers over to him. **"XANATOS"** he said demandingly.

"Yes, Kratos?"

 **"** **HAVE YOU AND YOUR MEN INVESTIGATE THE UPPER LEVEL AND STAY THERE."**

"Of course… but may I ask why?"

"Call it a hunch" Pyrrha answered as they continued walking, "but I think we might be walking into a fight that your men are nowhere near ready for despite that time we all spent in the sand room." All three of them stopped before the door and looked up at it for a few seconds before Xanatos finally replied.

"You don't say… huh… well it was fun. See you both on the other side."

Before he could walk away, Kratos grabbed him by the scruff of his armor and pulled him back towards them, **"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?"**

"Relax Spartan, I was only joking. You honestly thought I was going to run out on you two? I wouldn't be able to show my face in Athens again if I ran away from a fight. I was just going to take my men up to the higher level to see what kind of help we might have."

 **"** **DO SO, AND STAY OUT OF SIGHT."**

"Will do. Ok men, let's see what we've got here!" Xanatos left their side, took his men, and began investigating the upper level. His men checked the area up and down while Xanatos and Alesandro traced the curved area in the center towards the lever.

"What are you thinking, Lieutenant?"

"I think we may have found ourselves a useful weapon."

Kratos and Pyrrha stood in front of the massive wooden door that appeared to be thirty feet tall; it possessed a lock at its center with the omega symbol on both sides of it. The door itself also had the image of a Minotaur carved into it, and drooping chains at its sides and in the middle of the lock itself.

"What do you think is behind it?" Pyrrha asked the Spartan.

 **"SOMETHING MASSIVE BY THE LOOK OF THE DOOR."** The two slowly moved away from the door in order to prepare themselves for what was to come.

Pyrrha outstretched her arms to activate her semblance to undo the lock; but before she did, she turned back to the soldiers who took refuge on the upper level that possessed the furnace with the sharpened logs. "Whatever happens," she shouted towards the soldiers, "stay where you are. You'll be safer up there than here."

 **"YOU'LL ALSO BE OUT OF THE WAY."**

"Kratos..."

"You'll get no argument from us Pyrrha. If this lever does what I think it does, we'll be ready to assist when you or Kratos give the word", Xanatos replied.

Pyrrha nodded and activated her semblance on the drooping chains: the chains glowed black as they straightened up and were pulled back into the slots that held them. When the chains reached the point where they couldn't be straightened anymore, she made her arms move again for the chains to pull two levers out of the lock and split the omega sign apart. Immediately after lock was undone, the door began to be beaten on violently by something on the other side trying to get out.

"Whatever's on the other side doesn't seem to be happy at all," Alesandro shouted as the doors continued to be pounded on.

 **"READY YOURSELF PYRRHA."**

Pyrrha unsheathed her weapons from her back and prepared herself for what would appear from the doors. She stood there with a glare on her face, her weapons firmly in her hands and ready for battle while Kratos merely stood his ground as the doors continued to be pounded. Everyone in the room was tense with anticipation and worry on what would appear and when the doors would open. After a few more thunderous knocks, the doors flew open and the lock was sent flying through the room towards the soldiers; they saw the lock flying towards them and were smart enough to duck out of the way as the lock lodged itself into the wall behind them.

"Safer up here... right..." Mateo sarcastically replied. He turned his attention towards the door and said with fear in his voice, "By the Gods…"

"What in Tartarus is that thing?" Alesandro shouted.

The rest could only stand in silence and jaws agape as they saw what was standing in front of Kratos and Pyrrha: a giant Minotaur covered in armor. Its gauntlets were wrapped with chains and the fingers almost resembled blades themselves, spikes protruded from almost every aspect of its armor, and its eyes glowed fiery red to add onto the demonic look it was given. The giant metal beast slammed its fists onto the ground in front of the two warriors multiple times before lowering its head to get a good look at what stood before it. Black smoke billowed out of its mouth as it inspected the Spartan and the red-haired Huntress who didn't move a muscle ever since it first appeared. Seeing the defiance firmly planted on their faces, the Minotaur blew smoke out of its nostrils, stood straight, slammed its fists in front of the two warriors, and roared at them both as if to say, "your journey ends here."

The Minotaur lowered its head and stamped its front hoof as if it were about to charge towards them in attempt to gore them both, but Pyrrha changed her xiphos into its rifle mode and fired at the beast's chest… but was shocked that instead of having a hole in its chest, the metal monster merely stumbled back a bit.

"It can't be…" she said before she fired two more shots at it, causing the beast to stumble back towards the door. "Something's wrong! Even with the upgrade to my weapon from the sand room, that beast is still standing!"

Kratos activated Poseidon's rage, causing the beast to stumble back again. It finally began to fight back as it shot out a stream of fire from its mouth in an attempt to incinerate them both. Pyrrha blocked it with her shield while Kratos ducked under the stream of fire and ran towards the giant metal creature. He changed his Blades of Chaos into The Blade of Artemis and began swinging at its arms. He landed a few hits, but nothing serious. The Minotaur began slamming its gauntlets in an attempt to squish Kratos beneath it, only for Kratos to get out of the way and avoid its frenzy. Pyrrha shouted towards Kratos, "Kratos, do you think you can throw me onto its back? I need to confirm something." Kratos nodded and motioned his hands in a way to say 'come on'. Pyrrha ran as fast as she could towards the Spartan whom had lowered his hands, once her foot touched his hands Kratos launched her into the air above the Minotaur. She landed on its back and held on tightly to one of its many exhaust ports and began searching for something to confirm her suspicions, all while the giant metal beast began bucking in attempt to throw her off. Finally she saw on the back of the beast's armor an insignia of a volcano branded onto it. "Hephaestus" she said almost in disbelief. The beast attempted to grab Pyrrha with one of its gauntlets, but was stopped when Kratos hurled bolts of lightning at it. Pushing the beast back towards the door and allowing Pyrrha to use her semblance to tear off a piece of armor from its back and jump down from it and next to Kratos.

 **"** **WHAT DID YOU FIND OUT?"**

"Hephaestus made that things armor."

 **"** **OF COURSE HE DID… NOTHING IS EVER SO SIMPLE WITH THE GODS."**

"I was also able to tear off a small chunk of armor from its back."

 **"** **MAGIC WON'T WORK ON IT… SO WE'LL TEAR OFF ITS ARMOR FIRST."**

"Let's do it." They both ran towards the giant beast as it dug its gauntlet into the ground in front of them, dragged it from side to side, and caused geysers of fire to shoot from the ground. The two halted and moved out of the way as the Minotaur slammed its horns towards them both to gore them. Its horns were lodged into the ground and prevented it from temporarily moving, allowing Kratos and Pyrrha to run underneath it to target two of the exhaust ports on the beast's chest with their bladed weapons. The beast looked at the steam that shot out of the exhaust port curiously and began to attack the two warriors by spewing fire from its mouth again. They rolled out of range of the creature's attack and began to run towards it again with bladed weapons in hand; they continued to strike at the beast's armor, causing more steam to spew out until the Minotaur crouched down and covered itself in an attempt to fix the damage that was done. Big mistake: for Kratos took this opportunity to climb up its gauntlets and onto its back. He hooked his blades into the beast's exposed neck, causing the Minotaur to scream in pain and attempt to grab him. Pyrrha shot at its hands every time it tried to reach for Kratos, knocking its hands away from it and forcing the beast to start bucking. Kratos held onto it as long as he could before he jumped high into the air with his blades still in its neck. He turned around in the air, and with his newly increased strength, slammed the beast down onto the ground. The Minotaur stood up clearly dazed, not knowing where it was, and began reeling from side to side. Seeing their opportunity, Xanatos shouted to Alesandro to pull the lever. Once pulled, one of the logs from the pile rolled beneath them and towards the center, was also lit on fire, and was shot out of the hole towards the dazed Minotaur like a bullet out of a gun. The log exploded on impact, but not without leaving cracks in its armor. Unfortunately, the beast was able to shake the cobwebs and roared in anger at how damaged its armor had become. It ran past Kratos and Pyrrha and made its way towards the soldiers that took refuge on the upper platform.

"Safer up here my ass!" Mateo shouted.

"Brace for impact!" shouted Alesandro.

There was a loud boom as well as lava flying along with soldiers being tossed into the air as the Minotaur rammed into the platform. Pyrrha raced towards the metal bovine in an attempt to prevent the creature from killing any of the soldiers. The Minotaur stood straight up to show that it was able to reach everyone currently on the platform and began slamming its gauntlet onto the platform, causing more soldiers to be tossed into the air. The Metal Bovine grabbed four soldiers, two in each hand, and began squeezing them. The soldiers screamed in pain as Xanatos, Alesandro, Mateo, and others recovered along with other soldiers and began slashing at the beast's wrists in an attempt to force it to let go. Pyrrha finally made it to the creature's bottom hooves and jammed her weapon into it. The beast screamed in pain and dropped the two soldiers in its right hand, and barely loosened its grip on the other two. It yelled in pain once again and let go of the other two as it felt another stab in its other hoof; Pyrrha looked over to see Kratos with the Blade of Artemis dug deep into its hoof. They ripped their blades out of its hooves to cause another scream of pain to shoot from the creature's mouth; it attempted to stomp on them both, only for both soldiers to roll out of the way. The Minotaur began to pound its hooves and readied itself to charge the two; while it did, Kratos came up with a plan.

 **"** **ON MY MARK, USE YOUR SHIELD TO LAUNCH ME INTO THE AIR."**

"Got it."

Pyrrha walked ahead of Kratos in position as the Ghost of Sparta readied the Blade of Artemis again; the Minotaur and Kratos began running at the same time. Kratos jumped onto Pyrrha's shield as she held her ground beneath the weight of the muscular Spartan, and was able to launch him high into the air with ease. Kratos flew through the air towards the Minotaur's face and slashed at its helmet using the Blade of Artemis, slamming the beast once again towards the ground and sticking its horns into the ground. Pyrrha rushed underneath it to slash at the exhaust ports again, tear off more parts of its armor with her semblance, and strike at some of the cracks that were made into its armor from the log attack. The beast once again covered itself in an attempt to repair the damage done only for Kratos and Pyrrha to repeat their actions from earlier. The beast stood dazed and confused once again, as Xanatos fired another burning log at it. More chunks of armor fell from the beast exposing the muscle tissue in both elbow regions and the neck. The Minotaur gored at the platform once again, but instead of slamming its fists onto the area, it spewed fire from its mouth at the soldiers taking refuge on the left side; burning them alive. Their unholy screams filled the room as Kratos and Pyrrha rushed towards the creature; filled with rage at the death of his men, Xanatos rushed towards the beast, jumped from the platform, landed on the beast's exposed elbow, and began stabbing until the beast stopped breathing fire. It attempted to grab Xanatos with its mouth, but was knocked onto its back as a bolt of lightning from Pyrrha's rifle knocked it down onto its back. Pyrrha jumped from the platform and onto the exposed neck and began slashing with blood spewing out of the wound and onto her. The metal bovine rolled over onto its hooves, causing Pyrrha to fall directly beneath it. Pyrrha held up its shield in anticipation for the fire, but the fire never came as the Minotaur screamed in pain by a stream of lightning from Poseidon's Rage.

 **"** **ITS ARMOR IS WEAKENING, OUR MAGICAL ABILITIES SHOULD PROVE TO BE MORE USEFUL NOW."**

"Let's do this!"

The two continued firing bolts of electricity at the weak points of the creature's armor. The armor began falling off of the creature piece by piece. Kratos decided to switch things up by whipping out the Blades of Chaos and slashed at the exposed muscle tissue as well as the remaining armor. Finally the last piece of armor fell off the Minotaur's chest; infuriated at its humiliation, the creature ripped off its own helmet to reveal a bony bull skull. It roared in anger and went into a violent frenzy; meanwhile, lightning struck Kratos as he activated Rage of the Gods. The beast attempted to slam at Kratos and Pyrrha with its gauntlets, but they proved to be too fast as they slashed their weapons at its exposed body with precision. The beast attempted to fight back by digging its gauntlets into the ground and bring up another geyser of fire, but the two moved out of the way and fired bolts of lightning from behind the flames. The creature blocked the attacks with its gauntlets, however it worked against it as the force of the attack caused the gauntlets to slam into the Minotaur's skull, knocking it out cold on its feet.

Xanatos finally shook the cobwebs from his head as he looked in front of him in time to see the giant Minotaur knocked out on its feet. "Alesandro" he called out, "do it now! Kill that thing!"

Alesandro walked away from the burnt corpses of his brothers in arms and walked towards the lever. He looked at the unconscious Minotaur as he placed his hand on the lever and said, "This is for my fallen brothers you ugly bastard." He pulled the lever and the flaming wooden spike pinned the Minotaur to the door. The beast flailed in pain and its right hoof slammed into the door, creating a hole big enough for people to walk through. It struggled to remove the spike from its chest but it was no use; it had lost too much blood. The creature's body fell limp against the door and its life faded from its fiery eyes.

The room went silent, and the only thing that could be heard was the sound of warriors trying to catch their breath. Kratos breathed in and exhaled out to release his Rage of the Gods form, Pyrrha stood firm while the other warriors attempted to calm themselves.

"They did it…" Mateo said as he caught his breath, "No… we did it…"

Xanatos made his way back towards his men while Pyrrha watched on in sadness; her heart felt for the man as he walked slowly up the steps towards the burnt corpse of his men. "Kratos" she finally said, "you go see what's through that door. I'll check the casualties." Kratos nodded in silence as he made his way towards the hole in the door while Pyrrha walked towards the steps alongside Xanatos.

Kratos walked through the hole in the door into a room where lava poured through the center of a spiraling staircase. He ran up the stairs and noticed that there were statues of Hades every few steps overlooking the staircase. He walked across a slow, rotating gear and to another set of stairs that led straight into a somberly, decorated room. A red rug was spread out before a golden casket that rested on a raised pedestal and between two golden statues of a bearded man opening a scroll. Kratos looked at the scroll that rested on a pedestal in front of the casket, it read: "My second son, my last, has followed his brother to the Elysian Fields. In my heart I know I must continue the work of the Gods. But they take so much and at last my soul begins to doubt. –Pathos Verdes III. Kratos sighed almost in grief, for he knew first hand what serving the Gods of Olympus cost him. He walked around the book and pulled the lid of the casket off. The lid broke into many pieces as it hit the ground, and Kratos began tugging at the skull of the son. After tugging at it for a few seconds, the skull was ripped from the spine and tucked away for safekeeping. He left the same way he came in and returned to the room where he and Pyrrha fought against the Minotaur. As he walked through, he heard his name called by Pyrrha.

"Kratos… we have another visit from the Gods of Olympus." She pointed toward the altar that they entered through the first time and saw that there was a blood red colored wall of energy blocking the exit. He walked towards it and past the kneeling soldiers up onto the altar as an image of the God of the Underworld appeared before him.

 **"** **LORD HADES."**

 ** _"Kratos… despite my personal feelings against you, I have to admit that you and your protégé's progress is impressive. But your current skills will not carry you to your ultimate goal. By the will of Olympus, I offer you the souls of Hades itself; the souls of the dead stand ready to fight by your side."_**

As Hades spoke, the very souls of the Underworld that Hades spoke of emerged from the altar and flew around Kratos, eventually flying into the Blades of Chaos themselves. The image of Hades remained in the altar to oversee the test that he had just placed in Kratos' hands: multiple Fallen Legionnaires as well as Harpies emerged from either pits of darkness or from the roof itself to confront Kratos and the group. Pyrrha and the soldiers gripped their weapons tightly in their hands, only for Kratos to tell them to stand down. He walked in front of the group and swung his blades around him to summon the souls of the Underworld. They emerged from the Blades of Chaos and flew towards their opposition and viciously attacked the Fallen Legionnaires and Harpies. Kratos joined in the fray as he violently tore the wings off of the Harpies that were thrown to the floor by the souls of the dead. As the spirits of the Underworld finished off the last of the creatures and flew back into the Blades of Chaos, Hades was both pleased that Kratos showed great proficiency with this new ability and disgruntled that Kratos was still alive; for he still remembered the pain of loss that the Ghost of Sparta caused him years ago.

 _ **"Go with the Gods, Kratos and Protégé"**_ he said in an annoyed tone, _ **"Go forth in the name of Olympus."**_

* * *

 **Author's Note: Are we at chapter 10 already? Ok, how many words are in this chap... woah... huh... well we finally reached chapter 10, and I did say that your guys' patience would be rewarded. Anyways... now that my show is over (which was a rousing success) I'm not only searching for another show to partake in, but am also back to this for you guys. Seeing as how the former will take a while to locate, I'm ok with doing the latter until then. Also, some of the OC's: so far only two of the named soldiers are based on Greek names, while Xanatos is based on the old TV Show "Gargoyles" (an awesome show that I cannot recommend enough). Will I give the rest names? Possibly, I don't know, we'll see what the future holds. Also, now that we have more games to add onto the "God of War" story, I decided to add in a bit of extra words into the dialogue to reference back to the other games in order to make sense. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this newest chapter. Now if you'll excuse me... my fingers and my brain need some rest.**


	16. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: OK LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IT'S TIME FOR THE FIRST EVER Q &A SESSION OF THIS STORY! Our first question comes from *looks at notepad*, ah, Sai Kunai Blade. Big fan of your story "The Bat and the Blonde". Anyways, he asks:**

 **Sai Kunai Blade:**

 **Will Pyrrha ask about the bad blood between Hades and Kratos?**

 **-That question will be answered in the story below.**

 **Our next one comes from a writer by the name of "Trickster3696".**

 **Trickster3696:**

 **Okay, could Kratos kill Salem? Considering what we know about her it may take a god to do it.**

 **-Here's how I look at that scenario: Both characters are immortal: Salem was given her immortality by the Gods for attempting to use** **them, while Kratos' entire being fell into the River Styx (and look what happened with Achilles). Achilles only died** **because only his ankle wasn't dipped, whereas Kratos was fully submerged when he fell into it in God of War III. Salem** **however, if I heard the older brother's explanation correctly, says that she must learn the importance of life and death.** **Then, and only then, will she find rest... so until she finally does, she cannot be killed.** **In my honest opinion, if those two were ever to come to blows with each other... they would be fighting for a LONG time.**

 **The next two questions come from "EdwardG2000".**

 **Do you have an estimation on how long this will be? I'm just curious because I don't want it to end.**

 **Also, I already asked, but just in case you didn't see it, will you Nerf Kratos and a lot of the Gods, because** **getting into the books and lore they are quite a bit stronger than portrayed and though to be, most people think** **they are weak, when they are far from that, it's just hard to tell in the games how strong they are.**

 **-"Don't want it to end"... well that's mighty selfish of you now isn't it? Lol just kidding.** **For this story in particular, I have no** **estimation as to when it will be concluded. The last time I played the original "God of War" game, it took me 7 to 8** **hours to complete... so that's a LOT of ground to cover even with the changes that are to be made in order to make it seem a bit more believable, hopefully shorter, and not completely like a video-game. Plus, the "story" won't truly come to an end once the battle with Ares is done... I still have Betrayal (still debating this one seeing as how it's not** **really considered canon) through IV to work on.**

 **-Y** **eah... the games don't really do feats of** **strength justice on what the Gods are capable of in the "God of War" series.** **As for Kratos... the man's already a demi-god in the first game (even though we didn't know it at the time) so yes he will** **be nerfed a little bit. The Gods I feel are already overpowered if you go deep into Greek Mythology on what they've done; so** **to answer your question as to whether the Gods themselves will be nerfed: yes and no.**

 **The final three questions come from "Autarch Predacon".**

 **Will Pyrrha ever know about Persephone and the events in Chains of Olympus?**

 **Have some of Vol. 6 revelations altered in anyway the story you had planned? (sure has happened to A LOT of writers).**

 **More of just a yes or no question: Will there be a moment where Kratos does something and Pyrrha goes** **"I'm sorry, but this is where I draw line"?**

 **-Eventually. That's all I'm saying.**

 **-Unless Salem has some kind of power that'll bring Pyrrha back into the show as some sort of Grimm Zombie... no. My plans** **haven't been altered with her origin revelation nor of the creation of Remnant.**

 **-So far the only sceneario of that happening (that I can think of at the moment anyways) would be when Kratos comes face** **to face with Midas in "Ghost of Sparta"... so maybe. Also, I kind of feel like that happened already when Pyrrha freed** **the soldiers from the cages... if it didn't feel like it for you, I'll keep an eye out for more opportunities.** **Other than that, not sure yet, the rest is still in the works.**

 **AND LIKE THAT, LET'S GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD!**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the "God of War" series or "RWBY". "God of War" belongs to Santa Monica Studios, while "RWBY" belongs to RoosterTeeth.**

The image of Hades disappeared and the path was opened once again; but before the group left, Pyrrha couldn't help but notice something that she felt was… off. The words, 'despite my personal feelings against you' as well as the annoyed tone that was clearly in Hades' voice before disappearing wouldn't leave her head. Before Kratos took a step forward, Pyrrha spoke up, "Huh… that's strange."

Kratos stopped in his tracks and turned towards the red-haired Huntress, **"WHAT IS?"**

"The other Gods who helped us before this room seemed to be glad that they were helping you out before giving you a gift. Mister Hades on the other hand almost sounded like he was being forced to help you."

 **"WHAT ABOUT IT?"**

"I thought you were the Champion of the Gods… so what did Hades mean when he said 'despite my personal feelings against you?'"

Kratos' thoughts were taken back to the day when he traveled to the Underworld to rescue Helios from Atlas: to the moment where he had been reunited with his daughter, Calliope, in the Elysian Fields after so many years. As he held Calliope in his arms for a warm embrace, Persephone (the wife of Hades) revealed to Kratos that she had freed Atlas from his imprisonment in order to not only kidnap Helios, but also to bring down the pillar that held both the world and Olympus together. Even though he had let himself be stripped of all of his powers and burdens that made him who he was, Kratos attempted to fight against the vengeful Goddess; unfortunately, he proved to be no match for her as a mere flick of her wrist sent him flying the opposite direction. As his daughter grabbed his arm for comfort, the choice was clear to him… yet it was impossible to make: to stay with her meant the end of the world and the end of her, to stop Persephone and Atlas would mean forsaking his daughter forever. While his hatred and anger for the Gods grew ever stronger, he knew that there was but one thing to do… Kratos realized that what he gained in humanity, he lost in power. He would need to become the monster he once was if he was to defeat Persephone… he would need to become the Ghost of Sparta once again if he was to save his child. He would need to sacrifice his life with her so that she may live. The memory of pushing Calliope away from him, combined with the sound of her crying and begging her father to stay with her almost brought tears to Kratos' eyes as he turned away from Pyrrha before walking away and answering, " **IT'S A LONG STORY."**

Though the remaining twelve soldiers followed Kratos to leave, Pyrrha pulled Mateo aside to speak with him. "Your name is Mateo, correct?"

"Yes madam… um… may I help you?"

She looked towards the group that was leaving to make sure no one was listening before asking the young soldier, "what do you know about Mister Hades' grudge with Kratos?"

"Only rumors and stories… nothing concrete."

"If you don't mind my asking… what kind of stories?"

"Well… one goes that Kratos was involved in a great battle but died in combat and his soul was sent to the deepest, darkest pit of Tartarus. He would eventually fight his way out of the Underworld and return to the world of the living. Lord Hades would probably feel humiliated and disrespected that a human was able to escape his domain under his watch."

Pyrrha's eyes widened at the very thought that someone could possibly fight their way back to life, "he fought his way back to the world of the living?"

"That's just one story I heard. Another goes that he was sent on a mission by the Gods to assassinate Lord Hades' wife, Lady Persephone. So it could be that he hasn't forgiven the Spartan for murdering his queen in cold blood."

It was one surprise after another as this hypothesis caught Pyrrha off guard: the Gods would actually assassinate one of their own, and had Kratos pull the trigger? What's more, the possibility that Kratos has already killed a God of Olympus had her even more dumbfounded, "he killed a Goddess?"

"Possibly… but then again, these are just rumors and stories that I've heard. I don't know the full or exact details of what may or may not have happened. If I were you though… I wouldn't try asking him again. Men who've had as many misfortunes as he has don't exactly like to talk about their past."

Mateo turned away and walked through the exit in order to catch up with the group; Pyrrha slowly followed suite while pondering the stories she was just told about Kratos. She thought she was done thinking of questions to ask Athena, but right when she thinks she has only one question to ask the Goddess it seemed like two or three more would pop up. "I know Kratos is strong… but the stories Mateo just told me are almost ridiculous to believe. Then again, I did once live in an era where children's fairy tales are actually real. Athena… I hope you're able to separate truth from exaggeration," she thought to herself as she caught up with the group.

Kratos led the way through the water passageway as they made their way back to the Rings of Pandora; once there, Kratos continued swimming underwater around the statue in the center of the pool until he came across another door with a skull emblem on it with a hole in its center. He placed the head of the builder's son into the hole, causing both the door and water to descend into the floor. Kratos, Pyrrha, and the rest of the soldiers were slowly lowered to the floor as the waters poured out of the room; when it finished, Pyrrha and the others joined Kratos and saw a small room with a wooden crank attached to the floor in front of a statue of Zeus that had a large diamond in the center of his chest.

"Wait a minute, isn't that…?" Xanatos said as he noticed the diamond.

"The same type of diamond from the other room? It would appear so." Pyrrha responded.

 **"SEARCH FOR A DOOR THAT LEADS OUT OF THIS RING, I HAVE AN IDEA."**

Xanatos sent two of his men to search for a door; they eventually did and lifted the door up by the handle as Kratos turned the crank inside the small room until the diamond was facing towards both exits. Pyrrha and the other soldiers caught on to the idea and started making their way towards the other handles in the other rings of the temple: one group would shout when they reached their handle and when to tell the other group to start when they finished. The last group finished lining up the outer ring's entrance with the other inner rings and the group made their way down the hallway towards the chamber with the split diamond. As they reached the end of the hallway, three Fallen Legionnaires appeared from the room and started running towards them; Kratos and Pyrrha fired bolts of electricity at the group, while Xanatos threw his sword at one in order to clear the way. Once they were out of the way, Xanatos ordered two of his men to grab each lever and begin pushing; the soldiers pushed the two halves of the diamond together and a beam of light sprung from the giant rock towards the one in the inner ring. Once the beam hit the second diamond, the temple began to shake and debris began to fall to the ground. Everyone in the room moved out of the way of the falling rocks while Pyrrha held up her shield to protect herself as well as moving towards soldiers who ended up falling to the ground when the temple began shaking. Little did they know that the reason for the shaking was due to the statue in the inner ring rising above the temple itself; the disfigured man who burned the remains of the dead at the entrance of the temple watched as the statue rose above the temple as he commented to himself, "huh… haven't seen that in a long time."

After what seemed like an eternity of rocks falling into the room and into the water of the chamber, the shaking finally stopped and all seemed peaceful.

"Is everyone ok?" Pyrrha asked.

The group of soldiers looked themselves over to make sure they were still in one piece before responding with a "yes" of some sort. Pyrrha sighed in relief while Kratos began walking through the hallway as if nothing happened.

The others followed and reached the entrance of the giant statue; before they entered, they stopped as a familiar Goddess's voice called out to them, _"Kratos, Pyrrha, everyone, your progress is impressive. But be warned, once you ascend to the upper levels you will not be able to return without Pandora's Box."_

 **"ATHENA…"** Kratos muttered.

"Don't worry Athena" Pyrrha said, "We will conquer this temple." There was silence as Pyrrha finished this proclamation as she quietly thought to herself, "once this is over, I have a lot of questions for you though."

The group of fourteen entered into the small room inside of the statue, Kratos pulled the lever, and the room started to rise. As Kratos and the group rose through the massive temple, constructed to guard Pandora's Box, he realized it was a monument, not only to gods of Olympus, but to the madness of the warden who designed it. He and the others conquered the lower floors of Pandora's Temple, but what lay in wait above would detest even Kratos. Xanatos turned towards his men as the platform continued to rise, "Men… we lost half of our forces during the fight with the Giant Minotaur. Thanks to the Ghost of Sparta and Pyrrha Nikos, we were able to make it this far… but I doubt the difficulties will lessen. Be vigilant, be relentless, and most importantly… show no weakness. We will get through this, and we will return to Athens."

"He certainly knows how to encourage his men" Pyrrha thought quietly to herself, "as long as we keep ourselves focused, we will be able to make it through this." She inhaled, and then exhaled to keep her mind steady as the platform finally stopped rising and stood in front of a pair of giant stone hands spread out before them to walk on to. The group stepped onto the hands and were lowered to the new area that awaited them. The area that awaited them was a small, but wide, circular platform surrounded by stone columns on elevated walls alongside with a few wooden ones. On the ground were a few destroyed columns, and there were also a few missing pieces of tile on the floor to show dirt. In front of them was a small set of stairs that lay between two pillars that held statues of a singular vulture on each of them. Next to the pillar on the left however, was a sight that almost sent shivers down the spine of the soldiers: leaning against one of the columns, almost as if it were waiting for them, was a lone Satyr wielding a blue staff with golden, curved blades on both sides. The creature turned its gaze slowly towards them and wiped away the foam that was forming at its mouth, all the while keeping a grin on its face as if to say, "Seconds? If you insist."

"A Satyr" one warrior said almost in disbelief.

"Those things are said to be extremely difficult to kill" another said.

"How do we fight that thing?" another asked.

"You don't…" Pyrrha responded as Kratos reached for his blades but stopped as the red-haired Huntress stood before them with weapons in hand, "Because I will deal with this one."

"Don't be a fool Pyrrha." Alesandro responded, "These creatures are said to have a fighting style that's unpredictable. It's true that you're a capable warrior, but you'll need some backup in order to deal with…" Alesandro was about to draw his sword and stand by Pyrrha's side, but Kratos blocked his advance by outstretching his arm in front of him.

 **"** **STAND DOWN"** Kratos demanded.

"Kratos, what are you doing? Are you trying to get her killed?"

Kratos grabbed Alesandro by the ruff of his armor, turned toward him with a frightening glare in his eyes as he spoke, **"YOU AND YOUR GROUP ARE GETTING TOO COMFORTABLE WITH ME. REMEMBER THIS: WE ARE NOT FRIENDS… AND I WON'T HESITATE TO KILL YOU IF YOU OVERSTEP YOUR BOUNDRIES AGAIN."**

Alesandro and the rest of the group could only direct his gaze downwards so they wouldn't provoke the Spartan any further before speaking up again, "Noted… my apologies. But… Pyrrha is fighting a…"

 **"** **IT IS AS YOU SAID, SHE IS A CAPABLE WARRIOR,"** he said as he let go of Alesandro, **"NOW SHUT UP AND WATCH."**

While the argument went on behind Pyrrha, the Satyr looked at its challenger as if it were sizing her up to see what it was up against. Once it was finished, he twirled his staff in the air and let one of the bladed ends lodge itself into the ground, flipped itself sideways into the air, and landed gracefully next to its weapon. The Satyr picked the staff up from where it was lodged and twirled it behind its back and into the other hand before roaring at Pyrrha, who stood ready and waiting for the beast to make its move. The two combatants circled each other before the Satyr made the first move: it twirled its staff from side to side before attempting to uppercut Pyrrha with one of the blades on its staff. Pyrrha moved to out of the way and ducked of the way of another strike aimed at her head. The Satyr then went to strike at Pyrrha's leg, only for her to block the strike with the armor on her leg and land a blow onto the Satyr's chin with her other knee. The Satyr was dazed but used the momentum to cartwheel backwards while Pyrrha held her shield in front of her and her xiphos resting on top of one of the openings. The Satyr grabbed its jaw and moved it back and forth to get feeling back into it before the two circled each other again; the goat creature decided to take a different approach: it stuck one bladed end into the ground at an angle, climbed to the top of and balanced itself onto its own staff and motioned its other hand in a way as if to say, "let's try that again." Pyrrha slowly stepped forward while keeping her guard up; she went for a stab but the creature back flipped into the air with its staff in hand and began spinning the weapon at a rapid speed that pushed Pyrrha back upon contact with her shield. The Satyr went in to stab the Huntress, only for Pyrrha to leap into the air, twist her body over the strike, land on her back, and sweep the Satyr off its feet by spinning hers and using the momentum to propel herself to a standing position. The Satyr spun in the air before falling to the ground and kipping up back to a standing position itself. The beast roared in frustration at the fact that not just a human, but a woman was besting it. As it roared, Pyrrha changed her weapon from its Xiphos into its Dory Spear mode and charged at the beast. The Satyr tried hitting Pyrrha from above, but the Huntress blocked it with her shield (causing a loud clang noise to be heard) and began spinning her spear at such rapid speeds that the Satyr was barely able to block the strikes and was ultimately pushed onto its back again as it was barely able to block a stab attempt from Pyrrha. The red-haired Huntress stood still as if she was posing while the soldiers merely stood there with their jaws agape almost in disbelief at what they were witnessing. This woman, who looked to be a teenage girl, was not only holding her own against a creature they thought to be impossible to kill… but also pretty much outclassing it. They knew the girl could fight, but they've never seen her fight something one on one and were completely dumbfounded at what she was capable of.

"I am so glad she's on our side" Xanatos remarked.

The rest of the group agreed in unison before Mateo spoke towards another soldier in the group, "Hey Darrius" he called out, "I bet you're glad we didn't go with your idea back in the sacrificial chamber now, aren't you?"

Darrus's eyes widened and his face went pale as he turned away and quietly said, "I never suggested such a thing…"

Back at the fight, the Satyr kipped up back to its feet once more and ran towards Pyrrha with the attempt to stab her; while it was running though, it left itself wide open as Pyrrha proved to be faster and reached the Satyr before it had time to react. She smacked the beast with the butt end of her spear so hard that she sent it flying high into the air; she jumped into the air herself and began slashing at the Satyr's limbs, causing blood to spill out with every slash made until she used her semblance to propel herself towards the Satyr, twist herself around its body while placing her spear around its neck, spinning in multiple circles as gravity pulled them back towards the ground, and slammed the beast head first into the ground, kicked it into the air, and threw her spear at its head to pin it to a nearby column. The goat warrior tried to grab the spear from its head, but it was no use as its life left its body and disappeared into nothingness. Pyrrha used her semblance to recall her weapon but before she could celebrate with the rest of the group, two more Satyrs sprung forth from pools of darkness and took the place of the one that was beaten.

Pyrrha readied herself for another fight, but was surprised to feel Kratos' hand grab her shoulder, pull her back and shouted this order towards the entire group: **"SHIELD YOUR EYES!"** Pyrrha rejoined the group and placed her shield in front of her face while the others turned away at what might happen. Kratos stepped forth and pulled Medusa's head from his kilt and shot out a strong beam of energy from the decapitated head that stoned the Satyrs where they stood. He took the Blades of Chaos from his back and attacked the stone statues, shattering them with little effort. The group turned towards the battlefield to see that the path before them was now cleared.

"What just happened?" Alesandro asked.

"How did the Spartan destroy those two in just seconds?" Darrius asked.

"Pyrrha" Xanatos spoke, "do you know what that was all about?"

"It would appear that Kratos used Medusa's head to quickly dispose of our adversaries."

"Medusa? The queen of the Gorgons?"

"The very same."

"I was under the impression that the legendary hero Perseus killed her."

"If that's true, then Ares must have brought her back to life to take over Athens. Speaking of Medusa" Pyrrha turned her attention towards Kratos, "you could've used that at the start, couldn't you? Why didn't you?"

Kratos turned around to face the Huntress and pointed towards the soldiers as he answered her, **"BECAUSE THESE FOOLS DOUBTED YOU."**

Pyrrha turned towards the group who couldn't even look her in the eyes due to their shame. One by one, the soldiers began apologizing to Pyrrha for doubting her in their own way; while this was happening, Kratos began walking up the small staircase and across the bridged made of cement. He stopped just before the midway because in front of him was a Harpy feasting on the remains of a dead soldier that failed before them. The Harpy turned towards Kratos and screeched at him as if to say, "stay back foolish human". Kratos had been in service to the gods long enough to know the Harpy had been sent as a warning, a reminder from his former master of the decision that had cost Kratos everything. Had it been that long since he almost met his end at the hands of the barbarians? That long since he traded everything to save himself? He remembered in full detail the events of that day long ago: Kratos called out to Ares to save his life in exchange for an eternity of servitude, and upon this declaration the skies split apart as the God of War descended from Olympus. Seeing the making of a God in a mere mortal, Ares would not only save Kratos, but would also mold him into the perfect warrior. His servant on Earth. Only a simple pledge of loyalty was required. Kratos complied and his fate was sealed: as promised, Ares rescued his new disciple and brought forth the power of a God and destroyed those who would dare slaughter Kratos and his men. As for Kratos, no mere sword and shield would befit the newest servant of Ares; for out of the flames of the battlefield emerged two Harpies carrying familiar looking blades and chains in their talons: the Blades of Chaos. Once attached the chains remained so, chained and seared to the flesh, a part of the barbarous bargain. A permanent reminder of Kratos' pledge. In return… ultimate power. The rage of Ares exploded within Kratos as he decapitated the leader of the Barbarian horde with the new blades but failed to notice the words that came out of Ares' grinning lips, **"One condition matched, only two more. Then your bond to me will be truly permanent."** Soon Kratos would learn the true cost of power, a cost too high even for him to pay.

A second screech from the Harpy, as well as expanding her wings in an attempt to scare off the Ghost of Sparta, brought Kratos out of his thoughts and he stepped forward with his blades in hand as he began shouting at the creature and catching the attention of Pyrrha and the other soldiers, **"WRETCHED BEAST! I KNOW WHO IT IS YOU SERVE! RETURN TO YOUR MASTER! TELL THE GOD OF WAR I AM HIS NO LONGER, TELL HIM HE IS NOT SAFE WHILE I WALK THE EARTH! I WILL FIND PANDORA'S BOX… AND I WILL USE IT TO SEE HIM TREMBLE AND FALL BEFORE ME."**

During his threat, the Harpy did as the Spartan demanded and flew away with the body of its dinner in its talons.

* * *

 **2nd Author's Note: OH, one more thing, a big shout out to "tjblalack1" who messaged me saying that they were planning on doing a "God of War"/"RWBY" crossover themself. So be on the lookout for that dude's stuff! Hope you all enjoy the newest chapter and are satisfied with my answers to your questions.**


	17. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own "God of War or "RWBY". "God of War" belongs to Santa Monica Studios, while "RWBY" belongs to RoosterTeeth.**

Kratos sheathed the Blades of Chaos onto his back and turned around towards Pyrrha and the group of Athenian soldiers; on Pyrrha's face he saw concern, but on Xanatos and his soldiers… he saw caution. **"WE MUST KEEP MOVING FORWARD,"** he said as he turned around and continued crossing the stone bridge towards a pedestal that had another message from the temple builder, "The Cliffs of Madness lies before you" it read, "In my grieving I fear I may have designed a maze with no true way out. If I am right, may the cruel, uncaring Gods show you the way. Pathos Verdes III, once loyal subject of the Gods." Kratos looked up from the book at what lay before him and the group and saw a path between two giant walls made of stone with giant roots sticking out of them. The path looked to lead upwards, but to where? There was only one way to find out. Right as he left the pedestal, the group reached him and asked what message was left behind. Kratos merely stepped aside while Xanatos approached and read aloud what Kratos already did mentally.

"He lost his faith in the Gods" Alesandro replied.

"I can't even imagine what kind of toll building this place had on his mind" Mateo said sympathetically.

"Or what he may have lost in the process" Alesandro said.

"What matters now is that we do as Kratos said and continue moving forward" Xanatos replied, "for time is not on our side." He said this as he turned toward the group and looked past them in the direction on what he thought Athens would be. The others repeated the action and followed Kratos and Pyrrha through the cliffs.

They traveled upwards for only a few seconds until they were met with open air, and the appearance of eight Fallen Legionnaires; Kratos blocked the swing of one of their swords with his own blades while Pyrrha blocked with her shield. The remaining soldiers paired up and followed suite as they engaged in combat against the undead soldiers. During her fight with a Fallen Legionnaire, Pyrrha noticed something at the corner of her eye; Undead Archers rising from pits of darkness across a large chasm and on a broken stone walkway next to them. Pyrrha ended her fight with the Fallen Legionnaire quickly by cutting off its head with her Xiphos and used the momentum of her spin to throw her shield at one of the closest Archers and cut it in half. The shield bounced off the stonewalls and made its way back to Pyrrha's arm in time to block an oncoming arrow from across the chasm.

Kratos parried an attack from a Fallen Legionnaire and dug his blades through the armor of his foe, jumped into the air above the creature, landed behind it, and drew his blades back to his wrists; decapitating his opponent in the process. Kratos looked at Pyrrha who's focus was towards the Archers across from them on multiple sides, he then looked at the soldiers who were putting up a decent fight against the undead warriors and decided to do something about the archers that were out of their reach. Pyrrha shot at the ones across the chasm while Kratos summoned the spirits of the Underworld to attack the ones nearby; the spirits glowed an unholy yellow surrounded by a black aura as they flew towards their designated targets. The Undead Archers shot at the spirits but were unsuccessful in killing them as the arrows merely flew right through them as if there was nothing even there. The spirits were relentless as they slashed at every limb of the Undead Archers, tossed them in the air and back down to the ground, and finally put the creatures to an eternal rest; the spirits vanished shortly after killing the Undead Archers.

With the defeat of the Fallen Legionnaires and Undead Archers, the group recollected themselves and began to jump across the broken walkway towards a wooden platform with a rope above it that lead across the great chasm towards the other side. One by one, Kratos, Pyrrha, and the others grabbed onto the rope and began making their way across; a few of the soldiers were tempted to look down but fought against that urge as they thought about what might happen if they did. A few were extremely nervous as they made their way across but fought against that feeling as well as they continued to make their way across. The group rounded a corner and came across a circular platform made of wood with a crank in the middle. Behind it, she also noticed that there seemed to be a track attached to the cliff that led upwards; "an elevator?" She thought to herself. She and the rest of the group crowded into the wooden contraption but saw that there was no room to turn the handle, "I guess we'll have to go up group by group" Pyrrha suggested as she felt like a can of sardines. The group agreed as half of them exited the elevator and watched as some of their comrades ascended to the level above them. Once at the top, Pyrrha volunteered to collect the rest of the warriors and began turning the handle as she thought of the awkwardness of leaving half of the soldiers alone with Kratos.

Once Pyrrha returned with the rest of the soldiers, Xanatos noticed that there were two different paths to take: a wooden ladder right next to the elevator, and a path behind two giant stones.

"It will be faster if we split up and see where these paths lead," Pyrrha suggested. "I suggest two groups of…"

She never got to finish her sentence as every single soldier crowded behind the young Huntress and said, "I'm in Pyrrha's group!"

"Wait, hold on a minute… I'm flattered but…"

 **"DO WHAT YOU WISH,"** Kratos said as he walked away from the group and climbed up the ladder and catching the group's attention, **"I WILL TAKE THIS PATH AND MEET UP WITH WHOEVER LIVES."**

The group remained silent until Kratos reached the top of the ladder and began his journey, "Is he always this morbid?" Mateo asked Pyrrha.

"Well… considering what he's been through… " she responded.

"Right, right."

"Anyways," she said as she pointed towards the two stones, "we should see where this path leads us."

Both "groups" traveled on their own with Pyrrha's running into two Undead Archers standing in front of a large tunnel's entrance that were disposed of quickly; Kratos on the other hand ran into no opposition as he made his way towards another wooden ladder and eventually to the entrance of a tunnel in the formation of a Satyr's head with bright rubies decorating its eyes. Kratos merely glared at the ruby-colored eyes before entering the tunnel and engaged in combat with a lone Satyr; meanwhile Pyrrha's group was already locked in combat against four Fallen Legionnaires and a Satyr inside of a large cave. On Pyrrha's end, every time a Fallen Legionnaire was slain by one of the soldiers another one would rise from pools of darkness to replace the one that was killed. The same held true for the Satyr that Pyrrha was fighting, for she had already fought and killed three Satyrs and was fighting her fourth one now. It seemed like there was no end to this madness as she parried an attack from a Satyr and fired multiple shots at the Satyr in front of her and some of the appearing Fallen Legionnaires; during this, the Satyr that Kratos fought against split its own staff in two and began slashing at the Spartan with such speed that any normal human would have been sliced to pieces… Kratos was no ordinary human though and was able to block every attack before launching the goat creature into the air with his blades, jumped high into the air, grabbed the beast by the face, and slammed it to the ground. He attempted to stab the Satyr with his blades, but the creature jumped back to its hooves and made a swing at Kratos with its blades; Kratos ducked under the swing and grabbed the creature's weapon as it reassembled its weapon into a staff. The two played tug of war with the weapon before Kratos resorted to upper cutting the creature with one of the Blades of Chaos and sending the Satyr to the ground with its weapon in its hand. Kratos stepped on the blade to cause the weapon to fly into the air, caught it, twirled it around his arm, and stabbed the half-goat demon in the chest with it. Kratos continued his journey through the tunnel while Pyrrha recalled her spear to her hands after impaling a Satyr to a nearby wall; the group stood back to back with each other in a circular formation waiting for what may come next; when they saw that nothing else was appearing and that the orange energy field had dissipated, the soldiers relaxed and lowered their weapons while releasing a sigh of relief.

"Praise the Gods!" Alesandro shouted.

"That took way too damn long," Darrius said.

"Is everyone ok?" Pyrrha asked.

"Just a few scratches here and there, but nothing too serious," Mateo replied.

"Alright men, we'll take a little reprieve before continuing forward," Xanatos said before muttering to himself, "If we're having this much trouble on our end, I wonder what the Spartan must be up against by himself… or even if he's still alive."

"Don't worry about him, Kratos is still alive," Pyrrha reassured him, "if there's anything I've learned about him while on this journey, it is that he is an extremely skilled warrior. Brutal… but skilled."

"I hope you're right Pyrrha… because no matter how much my men don't want to admit it, we are going to need both yours and his help in order to survive this temple."

After fighting through more Satyrs, multiple Undead Archers, and figuring out a bridge puzzle, Kratos finally made his way out of the tunnel and was engaged in combat with three blue Minotaurs wielding giant double-bladed axes, wearing spiked armor on their forearms and bone protruding from their backs to give them a more spiked appearance. Kratos ducked out of the way of a swing from an axe, rolled away from one and activated Poseidon's Rage; two of the Minotaurs were disintegrated immediately while one was barely outside of Kratos' circle of electricity, causing it to roar in pain rather than die like the other two. Seeing that one was still alive, Kratos merged his Blades of Chaos into the Blade of Artemis and began slashing at the beasts' axe as it attacked him as well. The two swung back and forth at each other for quite some time before Kratos jumped into the air with the blade in hand ready to strike. The Minotaur held up its axe to defend against the blade but completely underestimated the strength of the Spartan wielding the weapon that once slayed a titan as Kratos brought the weapon down on top of it. The creature's axe was split in twain along with its wielder as blood spilled everywhere before disintegrating into nothing. The Ghost of Sparta changed the Blade of Artemis back into the Blades of Chaos and came across a bridge contraption that didn't appear to be working. He turned around to see to head carvings in the likeness of the goddesses Hera and Aphrodite; Kratos noticed two interesting pieces of detail about these carvings: around each of their necks were markings that suggested that something was supposed to go there as well as the gems used for the color of their eyes; emerald stones for Hera, and ruby stones for Aphrodite. **"SO I HAVE TO FIND THEIR NECKLACES?"** Kratos thought to himself as he looked across a great chasm; he saw beneath a giant water fountain a rope that lead across from it onto a wooden platform close to his location, **"VERY WELL"** he said again as he climbed down a nearby wooden ladder that led to a narrow path guarded by two Undead Archers and two Satyrs. **"OF COURSE"** he said aloud and annoyed as he prepared himself for combat yet again.

Pyrrha's group finally left the cave after resting from their fight and found themselves outside in the open air once again, as well as stumbling upon another wooden elevator. Just like last time, half of the group stayed behind while the others ascended to the top and eventually retrieved by the operator of the elevator. Once together, they found themselves standing in front of a tunnel entrance in the shape of a warrior's helmet; Pyrrha and Xanatos looked each other with a look in their eye that said, "be careful, don't let your guard down." The group entered slowly into the newly discovered path and across a worrying sight: approximately ten dead soldiers were lying on the ground with holes through their bodies and blood spilled on either the ground or the walls, on the ground were tiny holes with visible spikes through them, some of the spikes were covered in blood. They explored every aspect of the cave and saw that around a corner was an elevated area they figured they had to reach as well as a mechanism with wheels attached to a lever that seemed to lift up a wooden fence to reach a block of stone that wasn't much taller than Pyrrha.

"This isn't just a puzzle room" Xanatos pieced together.

"It's a deathtrap," Pyrrha said in agreement.

"Indeed. If we pull that lever, the door behind us will likely close and trap us in here while this one opens up and allows us to pull out the block" Xanatos explained.

"While we attempt to beat whatever time we are given to push that boulder around the corner underneath the area we need to reach before we're all impaled by the spikes beneath us" Pyrrha deduced.

"Yes… some of us are probably going to die in this room if we attempt it" Alesandro said grimly.

Pyrrha thought about the predicament they were in and came up with an idea, "perhaps not" she said.

"How so?" Xanatos asked.

"I can already jump pretty high into the air without the need of a stone block, I can reach the area above us and we will never have had to pull the lever."

"Well when you put it that way…" Xanatos said as he stroked his beard, "Ok, let's try it."

Pyrrha nodded and made her way underneath the edge of the upper area, crouched low to the ground, jumped high into the air, and grabbed the edge with her hands. Pyrrha's legs dangled while she attempted to pull herself up onto the level while the soldiers stood under her in case she lost her grip and fell. She then began to swing her body back and forth to create momentum to pull herself up, while the soldiers moved back and forth in case she slipped. Finally, Pyrrha was able to pull her being up onto the area with the soldiers beneath her sighing in relief. While Pyrrha jumped from her current position towards another level with exposed roots for her to climb on, Darrius spoke up quietly to the group, "just who IS this girl?"

"I assumed she was an Amazon" Mateo replied.

"I don't think she is" Alesandro joined in, "last time I heard, Amazons try to avoid all kinds of interactions with men. So why would one be assisting the Ghost of Sparta of all people?"

"I don't know" Xanatos said as he looked at the dead bodies around him, "and quite frankly I don't care. She's helping us out, and that's all I need to know."

During this conversation, Pyrrha reached the top of the new level and discovered an altar with a golden-chained necklace lying on top of a pedestal; she picked up the necklace and looked at the jewel that was embedded into it, "a ruby stoned-necklace? I wonder what it's for?" She was about to place the necklace in her pouch before she realized a certain word that escaped her mouth, held the necklace in front of her again and fought back tears as the image and the voice of one of her friends appeared in her mind, "Ruby" she said quietly to herself. She held the necklace to her chest as she spoke to herself, "I'm sorry we didn't get to hang out as often as I would have liked to," she pulled the necklace away from her chest and looked at it again for a short while before speaking again, "please take care of Jaune." She placed the necklace in her pouch, rubbed her eyes and jumped down to rejoin the group.

Everyone exited the cave with Pyrrha being the first one out and noticing something she didn't see the first time up: a wooden walkway that lay in front of a large, square stone tied up by rope that was being held up by a wooden crane-like contraption. She walked away from the group to look below to where it led: a path towards a tunnel's entrance in the shape of a Satyr's head. Alesandro followed suite and looked in the same location as Pyrrha, saw the tunnel entrance and said, "I assume that's where the Ghost of Sparta went?"

"Looks like we'll be joining him sooner than expected" Pyrrha said as she stepped on the stone and was lowered to the ground. Once she reached the ground, two pits of darkness opened up next to her to reveal two Undead Archers emerging from them. In one swift motion, Pyrrha cut off their heads with her Xiphos before they could fully emerge; the pits didn't go away though as two more of the same creatures attempted to grab her, only for Pyrrha cut their arms off as quickly as she killed the previous two. She looked up and was greeted by three Fallen Legionnaires about to strike her, with one being impaled through the neck by a stray sword.

"Excuse me ugly creatures," Xanatos' voice called out, "have you seen my sword? I seem to have lost it in one of your necks."

Pyrrha looked up and saw Xanatos, Alesandro, and the others sliding down the rope one by one. As they came down, Pyrrha used her speed to finish off the two remaining creatures that stood before her.

"Really, Captain?" Alesandro remarked as he looked at his captain almost unimpressed while traveling to the new cave entrance.

"What? I can't have a sense of humor?"

"We're fighting against demons Captain, it's pointless to 'antagonize' the enemy."

"Nothing wrong with a quip every now and then… Pyrrha, help me out here."

"I… don't have much experience in that field…"

"Oh come on…"

"Anyways…" Mateo intervened, "we're definitely on the right track here." He said as he pointed out the bloodstains and signs of impalement on the floor. They continued through the tunnel and kept finding more bloodstained evidence that Kratos recently passed through.

* * *

 **Author's Note: How long as it been since I did one of these? A while, it's been a long while. As for what's been going on recently in "RWBY"... oh boy, the feels. I think that woman was Pyrrha's mom, but eh, we won't know until it's officially confirmed. Anyways, hope you all enjoy this newest chapter.**


	18. Somber Announcement

I know this isn't what all of you are expecting to see, but please bear with me for a few minutes.

As a lot of you know by now, RoosterTeeth and Funimation have decided to fire voice actor Vic Mignogna based on allegations of inappropriate behavior. To those of you who don't know who he is, he is the man who's voiced characters such as Qrow from "RWBY", Broly from the "Dragon Ball" series/movies, Edward Elric from "Fullmetal Alchemist", Kurtz from "Full Metal Panic", Ikkaku Madarame from "Bleach", Tamaki Suoh from "Ouran High School Host Club", Spirit Albarn from "Soul Eater" (the list goes on). Some of the "inappropriate behavior" that he has been accused of have been stuff as vile as hugging and kissing his fans... I'm sorry, what? I've seen video after video after video of how kind, humble, and genuine this man is with his fans as well as how much of a man of God he is; the fact that he's being attacked like this and basically having his career destroyed is nothing short of heartbreaking. Also, the fact that he's being attacked with little to no actual evidence to go on is infuriating. There is more evidence of his innocence than there is damming him and the fact that RoosterTeeth and Funimation are ignoring this and not doing a proper investigation is honestly pathetic.

I love "RWBY", I really do, I love everything about it: the characters, the music, even season 5... but what RoosterTeeth did was wrong, what Funimation did was wrong, and this whole situation with Vic Minogna is just sad. The thing is too... after doing some research, I found out that this isn't the first time that RoosterTeeth fired someone with little to no evidence to go on. It's another rendition of "The Crucible" and a lot of people choose not to see it.

So here's my point: because of what's happened, I will continue this story. But as far as the series that I had planned goes... I have little to no motivation to continue. I'm sorry to all of you who have supported and liked this story, but I cannot support nor stand by companies who believe in "guilty until proven innocent" instead of "innocent until proven guilty" just to satisfy the SJW's or NPC's. So if, and I do mean IF, anyone out there wants to adopt the series after I finish this story: just send me a message and I will give you my blessings.

Thank you for your time, and I'm sorry.


	19. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I don't own "God of War" or "RWBY". "God of War" belongs to Santa Monica Studios, while "RWBY" belongs to RoosterTeeth.**

Kratos ducked out of the way of a slash from one of the Satyr's bladed staff and blocked another strike with his Blades of Chaos; though the path before him was narrow, currently cramped with him and two Satyrs, and tricky to fight on, it wasn't too difficult for him. Though these Satyrs were regarded as skilled fighters, one left itself wide open as it jumped in the air with its weapon above its head in an attempt to slam the Spartan with it; Kratos used this opportunity and threw one of his blades into the creature's chest, brought it back down to the ground violently, swung his blade in a circular motion with the Satyr still attached, and threw the corpse over the edge. He looked back at the other Satyr that still remained and noticed a pit of darkness form by the Undead Archers guarding the wooden platform and was annoyed at the fact that another Satyr jumped out of it. **"THIS IS GETTING ANNOYING,"** Kratos thought to himself as he pulled out Medusa's head and stoned everything that stood before him.

After destroying the stoned statues of the creatures, Kratos made his way to the platform, jumped up to grab the rope, and slid down it towards the lower regions of the mountainside past the waterfall. Once there, he entered a cave that had torches on its walls lighting up the path. He traveled through the winding path before coming to an area large enough for a miniature pool to reside. Not two seconds he was in the room and a wall made of metal bars dropped from the ceiling behind him to trap him in while multiple pits of darkness formed around the cave to reveal multiple Undead Archers, Undead Legionnaires, and quite a few Armored Minotaurs. Kratos looked around him as he stood in the mini pool and as the creatures began closing in on him. He looked down at his feet, then at his situation once more grinned and said to himself, **"WATER CONDUCTS ELECTRICITY… JUST A LITTLE CLOSER… "** A few seconds later and every single creature stepped into the watered area to close in on the Spartan; Kratos' grin grew wider as he activated Poseidon's Rage. The creature's writhed and convulsed in pain worse than they usually did as their bodies exploded and their blood was splattered everywhere; no part of the cave's walls was left clean.

Kratos took in what he did, looked away almost in disgust, and made his way down another tunnel into a giant room with an altar that possessed a pedestal with an emerald necklace on top of it. Before he even took another step, the entire room rattled as two steel blocks emerged from the ground, one of which was spaced away from the other and raised to the roof of the altar by thick metal beams. Kratos' eyebrow rose to show a little bit of confusion while he looked around the new room he was in. He surveyed the room and saw many stone pillars in different shapes and formations as well as a lever connected to a wooden wheel, that looked like was able to spin in a giant circle, embedded into the ground, and a pedestal with a book on it across from where he stood. He made his way toward the book and read the text on its pages, "Like how my soul has been shattered, your path forward is fragmented. Rebuild my soul and open the path. -Pathos Verdes III" The Spartan looked around at his environment once again, took a good long look at the oddly shaped pillars, then at the steel beams and began to go to work. Kratos pushed and pulled each pillar towards the beams to see where each might fit and which ones were just extras, he also pulled the heavy pillars towards the spinning platform to rotate the ones that were turned in the opposite direction. After quite some time of moving the stone pillars into place, Kratos had finally finished completing rebuilding the wall made of stone. Just as he pushed the last pillar into place, the entire wall (including the steel beams behind them) descended back into the floor and opened up the altar; Kratos walked towards the pedestal, picked up the emerald stoned necklace, looked at it, and stowed it away for safekeeping while he made his way out of the cave and began climbing up the mountainside towards the wooden platform he slid down from.

Pyrrha and the soldiers continued following the bloody path through the tunnel until they came to a bridge split in half with its edges turned the opposite direction from each other and cranks in the center of each platform. Pyrrha jumped over the gap over to the bridge in front of her with the other following suite; she turned the crank, which in turn, rotated both bridges until both ends were facing each other. There was still a gap between the two, but at least the soldiers were able to jump from one bridge to the other with Alesandro holding onto the crank on the other side to allow Pyrrha to prevent the bridge from turning and allow Pyrrha to jump across without difficulty. They exited the tunnel and made their way to the bridge contraption only to find Kratos standing in front of a statue's head; he looked over at the group who didn't know whether to be excited that the Spartan was still alive or worried because of the same reason. Pyrrha smiled while Xanatos sighed in relief.

 **"** **DID YOU FIND ANYTHING INTERESTING?"** Kratos asked the young Huntress.

"We found this necklace in a puzzle room that could have killed us."

 **"** **COULD HAVE?"**

"The room was booby trapped," Alesandro interrupted, "luckily, Pyrrha was able to find a way around it."

 **"** **FUNNY, THE ONE I FOUND WAS IN THE SAME TYPE OF ENVIRONMENT… ONLY MORE… COMBATIVE"** he said as he showed the emerald stoned necklace to the group. He placed the necklace around the head of Hera and backed away as it turned a full three hundred and sixty degree turn; he and the rest turned around and watched as slabs of stone emerged from the broken bridges across from and above them. Pyrrha did the same but on the statue of Aphrodite and watched as slabs of stone from the walkway before and above them; once fully outstretched, both sets of stones began moving back and forth with no end in sight.

"I don't suppose you could get us all up to the top, could you?" Xanatos asked Pyrrha.

"A few at a time, yes."

"That should wor…" he never finished his sentence as he and watched as Kratos began running from the stone slabs as they emerged and jumping to the next level above and across from them, then to next one above, and to the one across that. The group stood in silence at the athleticism that the Spartan displayed before Xanatos spoke up again, "ok, that's just not fair."

"He did receive training from the God of War, remember Captain?" Darrius said.

"I know, and it's still not fair that he's able to do that."

Pyrrha and the other soldiers chuckled as she began levitating each of them up to the next level. Meanwhile, Kratos pulled his blades from his back for whatever would stand against him; as he looked at the blood staining the Blades of Chaos, the path before him was clear, but still the memories came rushing back, as familiar and permanent as the blades chained to his wrists. As he dropped the Blades of Chaos to the ground in disgust at his own reflection, memories of his past came rushing back to his mind. Memories of what he'd done in the name of Ares, memories of how he'd become a servant under the God of War: a beast, his humanity robbed, and replaced only with the will to murder. No one was safe; entire armies fell before Kratos and his soldiers that followed him on his path for never ending conquest… all in the name of his master. Emboldened by the God of war, Kratos' army was ruthless, feared throughout the world for their brutality. All that mattered was conquest in the name of Kratos, their great leader, who had become near invincible. Ultimately, the memory of his greatest tragedy started replaying in his mind: the memory of how he and his Spartan army descended upon a village that worshiped Athena without mercy. Houses were burned to the ground; men and women were slaughtered. While the chaos unfolded, Kratos made his way to the village's temple. He stood outside the door staring at the building; though he feared nothing, he felt that there was something forbidden about it that caused all of his instincts to tell him to never cross its thresholds, to never step inside.

The village's oracle slowly stepped before him and tried to reason with him, "Beware Kratos, the dangers in the temple are greater than you know."

Not threatened in the slightest by the small, elderly woman before him, Kratos carefully moved her out of his way as the warning fell on deaf ears. His ambition would not be denied, and all who would oppose him would die; Kratos kicked open the doors of the temple so hard that they came off the hinges and fell to the floor of the temple itself. One by one, Kratos ruthlessly killed all of the residents who took shelter inside the temple and stopped his rampage after killing two female individuals whose faces were hidden by fog. When everything went silent, Kratos got a good look at what he had just done and fell to his knees; for in that instant, the glory he had reveled in turned to horror. The image of his two final victims would stay with him for all his days. With that act, Kratos knew he could no longer serve his master. He had but one calling now, the death of Ares… he would murder the God of War. **"ARES,"** the Spartan said to himself as he picked up the blades from the ground to engage the Fallen Legionnaires and Minotaurs that appeared before him, **"YOU WILL DIE FOR WHAT YOU DID THAT NIGHT."**

Using her semblance, Pyrrha levitated each soldier to the upper levels in groups of three; afterwards, waited for the platforms to extend all the way and jumped to the next level herself. After some time, Pyrrha was able to raise everyone to the top and began jogging to where Kratos was. They arrived in time to see the image of more blood staining the nearby mountainside and the Spartan stopping a charging Minotaur by grabbing its horns, dig his heels into the dirt, redirected the half-bovine into a nearby boulder thus causing the horns to lodge into it and trapping the creature. This allowed Kratos to stab the beast continuously in the neck with the Blades of Chaos until it fell limp and dissipated into nothingness. Some members of the group stood with their mouths agape at what they just witnessed while others either gagged or rubbed their necks at Kratos' brutal nature. Pyrrha leaned towards Xanatos while keeping her eyes on the Spartan and quietly said, "You definitely don't need to worry about him."

Xanatos agreed as he rubbed his neck; he then shook the image of what he saw out of his mind and said, "I'll take your word on that."

"There is no way that man is a mere mortal," Darrius whispered.

"What makes you say that?" Mateo asked.

"A normal soldier isn't capable of doing half of the things that we've seen him do already."

"That is true…" Alesandro responded.

"You think he might be a demi-god?"

"Soldiers… enough" Xanatos responded, "now is not the time for gossip… we can save that for when we return to Athens."

"Right now we need to focus on reaching Pandora's Box" Pyrrha replied in agreement.

"Sorry" the soldiers said in unison.

Pyrrha nodded her head to show that she accepted their apology and turned to rejoin Kratos only to see that he was already making his way along the trail; she and the rest of the group jogged towards him in order to keep up as they made their way over a destroyed pillar that blocked their way. Kratos turned his head towards his newest destination: the beginning of an incomplete wooden bridge with a large gap separating the mountain that he and the group were currently on from the mountain they needed to get to. Though there was no way to get there by walking, there was a setup above both ends that had two long pieces of rope for people to swing to and from in order to reach the other side. Kratos turned his walk into a jog and didn't let up on the speed; instead, he increased his speed until he reached the platform, jumped, and grabbed the rope and used the momentum to leap towards the second rope, grab it, continue to swing across the gap, and land on the ground on the other side. He turned around and crossed his arms as he waited for the rest of the group to do the same. Pyrrha and the soldiers followed suite one by one until every single person ended up on the other side alongside Kratos; once there, they all gathered inside a circular, wooden elevator. Kratos pulled the lever and the group was lifted upwards towards their newest destination: a large, square entrance with wooden beams outlining the entrance of a tunnel into the mountainside. The tunnel was quite grim though as there were coffins littering the ground along the path. After walking past multiple coffins, they finally walked out into open air and to their newest challenge: in front of them lay a circular pedestal surrounded by a square metal grate embedded into the ground; beyond that was a large chasm between them and another piece of land were four separate metal blocks that moved along rods embedded into the mountain, separated by giant circular blades that moved from one side to the other faster than the blocks. Beyond the challenge lay their destination: a large temple with multiple layers of gates as its door. Pyrrha stepped onto the switch to see what would occur; as it sank into the ground, she changed her xiphos into its rifle mode and looked through the barrel to see what transpired on the other side: though the spinning blades blocked her vision from time to time, she was able to see only one layer of the gate open up from the temple; all the while hearing a loud ticking noise, like a timer, echoing through the area.

 **"** **WHAT DO YOU SEE?"** Kratos asked the young Huntress.

"There are at least three layers of metal gates blocking the entrance of the temple... only one of them opened up" Pyrrha responded.

"So that means there are at least two more of these switches somewhere on the other side" Xanatos deduced after witnessing the device that Pyrrha stepped on sink into the ground.

"Exactly… and judging by that ticking sound we heard, we only have a limited amount of time to cross this area. Thankfully, one of them is directly outside the temple's door."

 **"** **OR PERHAPS"** Kratos responded, **"WE DON'T NEED TO USE THE SWITCHES."**

Pyrrha looked at Kratos and nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. She then walked forward off of the switch and towards the edge and waited for the block to approach her. When it did, she stepped onto it and waited for the blade to pass by and leap onto the block on the other side. She continued this process two more times until she made it across the chasm and onto solid land; once there, she approached the temple doors and used her semblance to pry open each gate layer until they were bent out of the way and allowing her entrance into the building. After opening the doors, a strange odor reached Pyrrha's nose that caused her to turn away in disgust, for the scent was extremely foul and repugnant. She turned around and waved towards the group to let them know that the deed was done, thus signaling them to make their way across the puzzle. Kratos was the first to cross without hesitation and made it all the way without any issues. Xanatos followed suite but wasn't as swift as Kratos. One soldier was off to a good start but miscalculated his jump as one of the blocks flew past him and caused him to fall to his death. The death of one of their comrades caused the warriors to gasp in horror, causing Pyrrha to turn around and feel like time slow down as she heard the blood-curdling scream of the warrior as he fell to the depths below. She ran back towards the obstacle to try and help in any way she could; this caught Kratos' attention and called to her as she made her way back.

 **"** **WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"**

"They need my help, Kratos."

 **"** **NO THEY DON'T. XANATOS MADE IT ON HIS OWN…"**

"But not that last soldier!"

 **"** **THIS TEMPLE WAS BUILT FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF PREVENTING EVERYONE FROM REACHING PANDORA'S BOX; OBSTACLES LIKE THAT IS ONE OF MANY REASONS WHY NO ONE HAS EVER BEEN ABLE TO BEAT IT"** he said pointing back at the spinning blades.

"With a group of able-body warriors, we stand a better chance at succeeding."

 **"** **PYRRHA… YOU CAN'T SAVE EVERYONE ALL THE TIME."**

"Maybe…" she said as she looked back at the group, "but it's the right thing to do… the least I can do is try."

 **"** **DO WHAT YOU WISH, THEY ARE NOT MY CONCERN"** he said as he walked into the temple while Pyrrha made her way back onto the moving obstacle to assist the warriors across.

Pyrrha jumped onto one of the moving blocks and encouraged the men to continue across by telling them that she'd be watching out for them. Alesandro, though hesitant at first, began making his way across the obstacle with no problems whatsoever. Another soldier made it onto the first block safely and almost ran into one of the spinning blades had it not been for Pyrrha using her semblance to push the blade away and allowed him to continue forward. Mateo made his way across and almost lost his footing on one of the blocks, but Pyrrha was able to catch him and stop his momentum with her semblance; he eventually landed on the same block as Pyrrha and tried to convince the young Huntress to continue on, but she absolutely refused to move from her spot until everyone made it across. This brought a smile to Mateo's face as he thanked the young woman before moving on.

Meanwhile on Kratos' end, the Spartan entered into the temple and was almost taken back by the smell he was greeted with… a smell he was all too familiar with… death. In the center of the room was a long, rectangular table with two rotting corpses on each side: one female corpse sitting in a chair with a knife in the middle of her chest with blood staining her dress, and a male corpse on the other side laying on its back with blood splattered around the upper portion of its body and on almost every single scroll that lay on the table with it; both bodies had multiple flies swarming around them. Next to the male body lay a note held down to the table by a knife that read, "She tried to stop me… she said the Gods were fools… that I was a fool. She may be right… but they came to me, they believed in me… she had to be stopped… but now they are gone, my entire family. I can not go on." Kratos looked around the room that he stood in and saw that there were many blueprints, schematics, and scrolls either hanging on the walls or scattered across the ground… this was the room where all the planning took place. How fitting for tomb. He looked up and saw that there was another large, skull shaped lock behind the chair where the female corpse sat. As Kratos made his way towards the rotting corpse, he heard a voice coming from the entrance of the temple.

"Ugh… do you smell that Alesandro? It smells like something… died" Xanatos said as he, Alesandro, and some of the warriors entered into the temple and saw the corpses on the table.

"By the Gods…"Alesandro said in disgust.

"Pathos Verdes the Third I presume?" he said as he pointed at the rotting corpse on the table.

"It's a high possibility, Captain."

"Ugh… that smell… I think I'm going to puke" Mateo said as he gagged at what lay before him and the group.

"Not in here you won't" Alesandro responded, "either hold it down or do it outside."

Mateo did his best to regain his composure before saying, "I'm good… I'm good you guys."

Pyrrha finally made her way in, and with the remaining soldiers into the now crowded temple and gasped in disgust at the very image that everyone else was gawking at in the room, "Oh my God" was what she said as a response.

"Gruesome? Tell me about it" Xanatos responded as he heard Pyrrha's gasp.

Alesandro looked around the temple walls and got an idea, "Captain Xanatos, this is the very room where all the ideas of Pandora's Temple's obstacles were planned out. There are schematics everywhere…"

"I get what you're saying. Men, Pyrrha, start searching these scrolls for anything pertaining to Pandora's Box. There's a possibility that they might hold a clue on the room that the damned thing is being held." Pyrrha and the soldiers picked up every scroll they could get their hands on and examined the ones that were plastered up on the walls for anything that could be useful; while this was going on, Kratos examined the skull lock, looked back at the corpse in the chair, and walked towards it. "Find anything?" Xanatos asked everyone in the room.

"No" Alesandro replied.

"Nothing here Captain" Mateo reported.

"Sorry, I can't find anything" Darrius responded.

"There has to be something here!" Xanatos said to himself.

"I think I might have found something" Pyrrha replied, catching Xanatos's attention. "I don't think it's much to go on though." She held up a torn up piece of paper that had an image of Pandora's Box inside of a sphere-shaped object in the center of a room being overlooked by statues made in the image of three of Olympus' mightiest Gods: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades.

"This isn't what I was hoping for, but it's something. What about you Spartan, were you able… to find…?" As he turned to face Kratos, he only saw the Spartan slam something into the slot of the skull shaped door, causing the eyes to glow and the door to open.

 **"I FOUND THE EXIT. THAT'S ALL I NEED."** He and the rest of the group walked through the newly formed hallway and found themselves out in the open air once again; they walked past two giant statues of lions and towards a flight of stairs that led into the mountain in the image of a bearded man. They walked through the entrance and found themselves walking down a long, spiraling staircase.

As they walked, Xanatos decided to speak up once more, "Men… this may indeed be the last room that we face before reaching Pandora's Box. We will, possibly, be the first humans to lay eyes on it. If possible, try to stick together. If that proves to be impossible to… do your best and don't stop fighting. The fate of Athens is depending on everyone here."

They reached the end of the stairs and walked into a room that was grand beyond anything they had seen in the lower floors and very unnerving to behold: the floor was divided into four different section with each of them moving in the opposite direction towards and away from two sets of giant stone, blood-stained wheels that helped the floor move. The floors themselves moved at a speed where the only way to stay in place would be to move faster than anyone who was jogging, the ceiling of the room was high above the giant wheels and seemed to have no end to it, and there were small elevated platforms that separated the wheels from each other with small golden circles sticking out of the walls. All the way across from the group though, they saw giant doors open up that revealed the same image that Pyrrha found in the previous room: three giant, marble statues of the Olympian Gods overlooking a sphere in front of them, and that sphere held the prize they came to claim… Pandora's Box. The doors remained open for a few seconds as if to give the group a slimmer of hope, before closing as suddenly as it opened. After hearing those doors close, a realization finally, and truly, sunk in to the minds of the group: this was their final challenge.

* * *

 **Author's Note: I'm still disgusted with the actions of RoosterTeeth for what they did and who in their company is involved on the kickvic side, but I said I'd finish this story despite my personal feelings and that's what I plan to do.  
** **Also, just a heads up, I am in talks with another author to take over the series once I'm finished. So if anyone still supports RoosterTeeth (or Funimation) and still wants to read of Pyrrha's adventure in Greece, I'll release more information later.**


	20. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own "RWBY" or "God of War". "RWBY" belongs to RoosterTeeth, while "God of War" belongs to Santa Monica Studios.**

Pyrrha walked to and stood next to Kratos with her weapons in hand as he was unsheathing the Blades of Chaos from his back, "this is it, Kratos. Are you ready?"

 **"ALWAYS"** the Ghost of Sparta replied with the utmost determination and blades ready in his hands. He turned back towards the group of soldiers that followed them the entire journey and said to them, **"TO THE REST OF YOU, STAY OUT OF THE WAY AND TRY NOT TO DIE."**

"I think that's the most encouraging thing you've said to them."

 **"IT'LL MORE THAN LIKELY BE THE ONLY AND LAST TIME THEY HEAR IT"** he said as he walked towards the final challenge.

"Dark" Xanatos responded.

"But possibly true" said Darrius.

"Let's prove him wrong," replied Mateo.

The group marched towards the moving floor and struggled a bit at first to keep themselves from moving towards the giant wheels that would have squashed them, but were eventually able to pick each other up and run the opposite direction of the ground. During the mayhem, orange barriers appeared in front of the entrance of where they entered as well as the other side of the room that led towards Pandora's Box; while this happened, a legion of Harpies flew from the ceiling above and Undead Archers appeared from pools of darkness on the stable platforms and in front of the barrier that guarded the exit. The true challenge had officially begun.

The Harpies descended on the group relentlessly and ferociously, with a few being shot down by Pyrrha as she shot at them with her rifle and Kratos hurling bolts of lightning at the group; meanwhile, the group of soldiers were able to fend off the Harpies to the best of their ability by slashing at some that tried to dive at them head on. For a while they were holding their own, but unlike Kratos and Pyrrha, their focus was on that of what was attacking them and not on everything around them. This folly cost three soldiers their lives as they were shot in either the head or the chest by fire arrows launched by the Undead Archers.

"Sir" Alesandro shouted, "there's only eight of us left!"

"Don't stop fighting, no matter what happens!" Xanatos responded as he blocked an arrow with his sword while running towards the second floor that moved the opposite direction as theirs.

Some followed suite while others decided to climb up onto the stable platforms and engage the Undead Archers in combat; this proved to be helpful yet foolish at the same time. For as the creatures were slain, fire shot out from a hole in the wall where the creatures once stood and burned them alive. The unholy, blood-curdling screams of the dying soldiers echoed throughout the room as everyone continued fighting for their lives; only five soldiers remained alongside the Ghost of Sparta and Pyrrha. Kratos continued shooting bolts of lightning at the oncoming Harpies while Pyrrha fired at the Undead Archers that kept re-spawning on the stable platforms while avoiding being squashed by the giant gears that moved the floor beneath her and the group. One soldier was able to block an arrow with his sword, but didn't see two Harpies flying over him as they picked him up with their talons. He screamed for help as one let go and quickly grabbed his arms while the other grabbed his legs; they would have ripped him in half had Pyrrha not heard the scream and fired at the Harpy that held the soldier's arms. The creature disintegrated in air, leaving the one that held his legs; with his limbs now free, the soldier curled his upper body up towards the Harpy and swung his blade at the beast's neck, decapitating it and dropping him onto the ground below. He would have struggled to get up had one Mateo not been nearby to pick help him back up to his feet and avoid the giant gears.

"Thank you Pyrrha!"

"Don't thank me just yet!" She shouted towards him as she shot down another Harpy.

Kratos, now using the Blade of Artemis, continued to slice every Harpy that flew towards him in half while at the same time using the gigantic blade as a shield to block incoming fire arrows shot from the Undead Archers and moving against the flow of the floor. He jumped onto one of the moving platforms, dug his blades into one of the Undead Archers, jumped off the platform and onto the moving floor, and flung the body of the creature into the moving gears; causing its guts to emerge from its mouth like toothpaste while at the same time being flattened to oblivion.

One Harpy flew towards Darrius who jumped into the air and slashed at the creature and split it in two; he continued to slash at any Harpy that flew towards him while unaware of an Undead Archer aiming an arrow at him from one of the stable platforms. Mateo, who just finished killing a Harpy himself, saw what was about to happen and ran towards Darrius. He yelled towards his brother-in-arms about the incoming threat, only for him to realize it too late as the arrow shot into his shoulder and with enough force to pin him to the ground. Darrius screamed in pain as he tried to remove the arrow from his shoulder but was only able to break off part of the main body of the arrow itself; knowing he didn't have enough time to get up from the floor to avoid the gear from squishing him, Darrius began to roll the opposite direction as the floor until another soldier was able to make their way to him and pick him up off the ground. He did the best he could to defend them both, but the onslaught of arrows was simply too much for him as one arrow disarmed him and left him open for a Harpy to swoop in at a terrifying speed and behead them both. Their bodies dropped to the floor and bled everywhere while making their way towards the gears that ultimately flattened their bodies; only three soldiers remained alive.

Xanatos cut down two Undead Archers near the exit and turned around to see his men beheaded by the Harpy; anger brewed inside him as he charged towards the beast while attempting to run across the moving floor. Alesandro saw this as he finished off a Harpy as well as an Undead Archer aiming an arrow at his captain; he took his weapon and threw it at the creature, cutting it in half and allowing Xanatos to continue his charge. Mateo, who was nearby, climbed up onto the stable platform and quickly grabbed the sword that Alesandro threw; he looked back towards his brother-in-arms to see that he was bobbing and weaving out of the way of both Harpies that flew towards him and arrows that were shot at him. He jumped off of the platform in time to avoid a blast of fire from the wall to join the second in command and return his sword to him; after fighting off the flying creatures, they ran after their captain. Xanatos slashed at every single Harpy that got in his way until he finally made his way towards the Harpy that beheaded his men, jumped into the air and grabbed onto the talon of the wretched beast, cut off one of its wings to send them both crashing to the ground; Xanatos rose to his feet while the Harpy attempted to fly away but couldn't. He stepped on the beast's neck to pin it to the ground and raised his hand to the ground and was about to slice off the creature's head had the sound of the giant spinning gears getting closer to him distracted him. The Harpy took notice of this, as it was able to free itself by biting Xanatos' exposed toes and would not let go. Xanatos yelled in pain before finally cutting off its head in retaliation; as the beast disintegrated, Xanatos limped away slowly from the giant gear but saw that he was still getting closer to the giant wheel; he prepared himself for the worst as he was inches away from death, but was saved at the last minute by Mateo and Alesandro who had jumped onto a stable platform and pulled him up. The celebration was cut short as Mateo noticed that he was standing right in front of a hole in the wall that shot out fire; he pushed his two comrades to the other end of the platform but was unable to save himself as he was burnt alive.

"It's just us now Captain," Alesandro said as they both looked towards the direction of Kratos and Pyrrha who were still fighting off hordes of Undead Archers and Harpies, "we're all that's left of our group."

"We cannot let this deter us," Xanatos said as he attempted to stand, "their sacrifices will not be in vain." They continued to look towards the direction of two red-clad warriors and were both amazed at how well they were doing despite the horde of Harpies and Undead Archers attacking them, and shame at their current predicament; they were some of the best trained warriors of the Athenian army and yet all of their men were now dead, and the captain is limping during the final battle. For a brief moment they felt discouragement, but after looking towards the exit and realizing that Pandora's Box was within their grasp, and remembering what they were told about Ares attacking Athens, their fire was rekindled and jumped down from the pedestal to rejoin the fight.

Pyrrha threw her shield at a Harpy, causing it to fall to the ground, as well as her shield ricocheting off of it and hitting more of the beasts in the process. This allowed Kratos to skewer and slice the flying demons with the Blade of Artemis as they made their way towards the ground. Though they were doing well, the horde of Harpies kept coming at them as if it were never-ending; that's when Kratos decided that it was enough. He transformed the Blade of Artemis back into the Blades of Chaos and activated Rage of the Gods; lightning struck his being and cloaked him in electricity in the form of traditional Spartan armor and fought side by side with Pyrrha. The speed and precision they both displayed with their attacks was almost unbelievable that it seemed they were more than just humans, and they didn't show any signs of slowing down any time soon. Kratos took Pyrrha by the arm, looked at her in the eyes, nodded at each other, and threw her as high into the air as he possibly could; Pyrrha used the momentum to spin in the air while firing at the enemy above and below her while Kratos, at the same time, activated Poseidon's Rage which covered the entire room. This display of electricity by both warriors proved to be so great that it not only destroyed every single creature in the room, but it shook the room itself and made it seem like a miniature earthquake was occurring. Xanatos and Alesandro fell to their knees and had a hard time trying to stand back up and would have had been squashed by the gears had not something occurred: everything stopped moving. The gears that caused the floor beneath them to move, the giant wheels that the floor rolled towards, everything stopped; and for a brief moment there was silence. That moment ended when the group heard rocks cracking from the ceiling and began falling to the ground.

"Not this again" Xanatos replied as he attempted to get back to his feet.

Kratos, who had already released his Rage of the Gods form, and Pyrrha had reached the doorway of the exit that still had the barrier in tact and waited in front of it for the other two to arrive. Alesandro helped his commander up get to his feet while at the same time avoiding the falling rocks as best as he could. Pyrrha rushed towards the two to give them a hand; just as she reached them and placed Xanatos' arm around her shoulders, Alesandro noticed a large shadow forming around them that was getting bigger with every passing second. He looked up, removed Xanatos' arm from his shoulders, pushed the backs of his commander and the young Huntress with all he could away from him just in time as a giant boulder fell onto him; just missing his two comrades. Pyrrha turned around too late and grit her teeth in frustration as she placed Xanatos on her shoulders and ran towards the exit while avoiding the falling rocks. Once there, the trio stood still in the doorway to avoid the falling boulders for a full minute until the calamity came to a calm. They lowered their arms to take a look at the damage that had befallen the room and saw nothing move; they looked up at the roof and could see the sky perfectly clear while at the same time seeing no Harpy fly into the room. After a few tense seconds, the barrier blocking their initial entrance and the one behind them disappeared.

"We did it," Pyrrha said almost in disbelief, "we actually did it."

"Please tell me I'm not dreaming" Xanatos said almost pleadingly.

"You're not, Xanatos. It's real."

Xanatos released a long breath of air in both relief and excitement before speaking again, "praise the Gods! We actually survived!"

 **"MOSTLY"** Kratos responded as he turned around to walk through the new passage. He barely took one step forward before noticing a very intriguing image carved into the floor beneath his feet: a male and female warrior was locked in combat with Zeus. He looked at the image with the utmost curiosity as to why something like this would be in the temple and what it meant. Pyrrha stood next to Kratos and looked at him in confusion before she and Xantos directed their attention to the very thing that caught Kratos' eye, and they too were bewildered at what they saw. They all looked at each other with the most confused look on their faces before Kratos finally spoke, **"WHY WOULD THE TEMPLE BUILDER CARVE SOMETHING LIKE THIS?"**

"Maybe it's a dream he had while building the temple. A dream based on madness… or anger towards the Gods" Pyrrha said.

"Whatever it is," Xanatos replied, "only a fool would challenge Olympus."

Pyrrha chuckled while Kratos scoffed at the idea of mortals actually taking on the forces of Olympus before walking up a set of stairs that led to their prize. Once in front of the doors, Kratos kicked them open and walked into the room that held the prize they were after, but they had to do one more thing: Kratos walked towards the giant, golden sphere and pulled backwards on a handle to reached out quite a ways before being unable to pull any further. The sphere sank into the floor and revealed the prize they fought so hard to claim: Pandora's Box; a giant, golden box that stood just below Pyrrha's height and its lid was decorated wailing faces. Another notable feature of the box was how there was a sinister, red glowing light shining through the box that lit up the eyes and mouths of the faces decorating it. The box was then lowered to the floor in front of them; the group stood there and marveled at what lay before them.

"So this is Pandora's Box," Pyrrha said, "the very means of defeating Ares."

A tear shed from Xanatos' eye as he bowed his head and said under his breath, "My brothers, my comrades, we did it. We actually did it, your sacrifice wasn't in vain."

Kratos reached his hands out towards the box, but was a bit hesitant at first to touch it. After a few breaths, he placed his hands on Pandora's Box and felt something flow through him as he roared almost in pain, and a purple light emerged from the box.

"Kratos!" Pyrrha yelled in concern.

The Spartan turned to reassure everything was alright and turned back around to see the image of Athena appear in the light, _"Kratos, Pyrrha, Xanatos, your quest is at an end. You three are the first mortals to ever reach Pandora's Box; there is still time to save Athens. You must bring the box back to my city and use it to kill Ares. Return to Athens brave warriors… return and save my city."_ Athena's image disappeared as quickly as it appeared before them; Kratos, Pyrrha, and Xanatos looked around them to try and figure out how they were going to remove such a large box.

"So…" Xanatos responded, "are we supposed to carry this thing back the way we came or…" he never finished his sentence as the floor beneath them began to slide downwards. "Nevermind" he replied as they continued to descend. The floor continued to move for quite some time before finally coming to a halt and sitting on the ground of the room from whence the whole journey began. To the group, it felt like an eternity since they last saw this room; and they welcomed the sight of it after finally returning to it.

"How's your foot?" Pyrrha asked Xanatos.

"I think I should be good to walk on it now" he replied. Xanatos removed his arm from Pyrrha's shoulder and put pressure on his foot. He winced in pain for a moment, but was able to place his hands onto Pandora's Box just in time to keep his balance. He tried again and winced in pain again, but not as bad as the first time; assuring Pyrrha that he was "ok".

 **"YOU TWO GRAB EACH SIDE OF THE BOX; ONE PUSHES, THE OTHER WILL PULL. I'LL GRAB THE CENTER AND PUSH SIDEWAYS."**

"Got it," they said in unison. The group grabbed onto their sides of Pandora's Box, and after a count of three given by Kratos, pushed and pulled the box with all their might towards the center of the room.

"By the Gods, this thing is heavy! What in Tartarus is in this thing?" Xanatos replied as he pulled the box his direction.

Almost on cue, the doors that closed behind Kratos and Pyrrha upon entering the temple the first time began to open; all the while, Athena's voice could be heard once more. _"You must bring Pandora's Box back to Athens, my three warriors. You cannot defeat Ares without it."_

"You heard Lady Athena, there's no time to waste" Xanatos said with the utmost urgency… only to shut up immediately after receiving a glare from Kratos. The trio continued to push Pandora's Box towards the entrance of the temple while this thought ran through the minds of both the Spartan and Xanatos: after a thousand years, Pandora's box was, at last freed of its confines. Kratos, Pyrrha, and Xanatos had found the means to destroy the God of War. The three reached the halfway point of the entrance of the temple before Xanatos asked to catch a breath and shake out the pain shooting through his foot. He also brought up an interesting question, "So does anybody have a plan as to how we're going to transport this box to Athens?" This was a great question as both Kratos and Pyrrha looked at each other, hoping that either of them might have the answer.

Back in Athens, Ares continued his rampage throughout the city as he swung his flaming sword through, and on top of, buildings where Athenian soldiers were gathering to fight back against the God of War. Ares was about to destroy another building, but stopped himself and slowly turned around as if he sensed something. He looked towards the direction of Pandora's Box, closed his eyes, and focused on its direction to confirm something; a sinister grin appeared on his face when he was able to confirm what he thought. Right there and then, he knew that Kratos had succeeded in his quest. **"So little Spartan,"** he said to himself, **"you and your sidekicks recovered Zeus' precious box… but none of you will live long enough to see it opened."** Ares raised his sword into the air and allowed it to disappear in a flash of light as he carried out his morbid thoughts; he picked up two pillars and placed in each hand, he raised the first one above his head and threw it with ease as he said, **"I will see to that."** As the first pillar flew through the air towards its target, Ares spoke again and threw the second pillar, **"Goodbye, Spartan. You and your pathetic followers will rot in the depths of Hades for ALL eternity."**

The trio were too busy discussing ideas on how to transport Pandora's Box to Athens, that they didn't notice the first pillar flying through the air until it was too late. Time seemed to slow down as Kratos was impaled through the abdomen and sent flying towards the wall behind them, pinning him to the wall with blood spilling everywhere.

"Kratos!" Pyrrha and Xanatos shouted with concern and fear in their voice.

Ares merely grinned as he witnessed the events take place in his mind before speaking grimly again, **"I'd be less worried about him and more concerned for your own sake, child."**

Pyrrha heard something flying through the air at a rapid speed; she turned around too late as the second pillar hit her in the abdomen just as it did Kratos. Unlike the Spartan though, instead of impaling her and pinning her to the wall, the pillar sent her flying through the wall behind her and into the walls of the inner circle; burying her underneath the falling bricks.

"Pyrrha, no!" Xanatos cried out. He limped towards the direction of where the chaos had transpired only to hear the sound of Harpies screeching. He turned around and saw two fly through the doors of the temple; one of them flew towards Pandora's Box, while the other one flew towards him. He reached for his side to grab his sword, but became pale with fear when he saw that he didn't have one on him; for he had lost it during the falling of the rocks in the last challenge room. He looked up to the image of a Harpy grabbing him by the shoulders, pinning him to the ground, and screeched once more before ripping out his jugular with its teeth. The beast continued to bite at various exposed skin and muscle until Xanatos moved no more.

Kratos gasped for air while attempting to remove the pillar from his torso, but it was no use; the majority of his strength was used up during the final challenge room in Pandora's Temple. His muscles were completely fatigued, and that wasn't the worst of it: for as the life began to leave Kratos, his thoughts returned to that fateful night. Even in death the memories would not fade. For how could he forget spilling the blood of his own family? It was a cruel trick orchestrated by the God of War in order to solidify their bond and allow the Furies to complete the Blood Oath. Kratos' voice was filled with sorrow as he held their bodies in his arms and said, **"MY WIFE… MY CHILD… HOW? THEY WERE LEFT IN SPARTA…"**

The image of a pleased Ares arose in the flames that engulfed the temple of Athena as he said to his servant, **"You are becoming all I'd hope you'd be, Kratos. Now with your wife and child dead, NOTHING will hold you back. You will become even STRONGER, you will become DEATH itself!"**

Kratos turned away from his "savior" in disgust and walked out of the temple as he realized that his true enemy was the very god that had once saved his life, the same god who had now taken everything from him. Kratos roared Ares' name towards the heavens in anger at what he had done and at what he made him do; for in his heart, he swore that he would someday, somehow, take revenge on the God of War.

"From this night forward," the old village oracle began, "the mark of your terrible deed will be visible to all! The ashes of your wife and child will remain fastened to your skin, NEVER to be removed!" With that curse, all would know him for the beast he had become. His skin white with the ash of his dead family… the Ghost of Sparta had been born.

Returning to the present, after reliving that horrid day once again, he realized that even in death… he had failed. He could only watch as the two Harpies grasped Pandora's Box with their talons, and fly into the air with it for Ares. As the minions of Ares claimed Pandora's Box, Kratos reached out his hand towards the box hoping to prevent the wretched beasts from flying off with it… but it was too late. His life faded, his body went limp, and his soul was cast into the fires of Hades.

* * *

 **Author's Note: So... a little bit of bad news (great, what could I possibly say after a morbid and somber chapter like this): the person I was talking to about taking over the series when I'm finished with this story told me that they can't do it because their life is quite tedious. So once again, this series is up for adoption after I finish this particular story.**


	21. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I don't own "God of War" or "RWBY". "God of War" belongs to Santa Monica Studios, while "RWBY" belongs to RoosterTeeth.**

For the longest time, the only noise that could be heard was the wind and the dripping of blood from the spike that impaled Kratos. For a while there was no movement, for both Kratos and Xanatos were dead, while Pyrrha was buried underneath a pile of bricks. Suddenly, there was grunting; the pile of bricks covering Pyrrha slowly began to move. Shortly after, a shout was heard, bricks from the pile went flying everywhere, and Pyrrha stood above the pile with her shield in her hand with her body glowing a mixture of red and green. She looked at her arms, then at her stomach where the pillar had made contact with her armor, and saw that her entire being was glowing before it dissipated. "Red and green? My aura is red, why is it…? Wait a minute," She said to herself as she thought back to the room with the magic sand. She remembered feeling something tingling inside of her after stepping into the sand. She thought it was just her strength being invigorated, not just her aura. She wasn't complaining though, for if it hadn't she might have been killed alongside with, "Kratos!" She shouted as she remembered the events that had just transpired. She ran through the hole in the wall and returned to the temple's entrance; the sight she saw was grisly: the first thing she saw was the torn, shredded, and mangled body of Xanatos. She gasped in horror at the morbid sight before her, "Xanatos… no." She sat down beside his body and gently closed his eyelids with her hands before placing his hands onto his chest. She then turned to see the image of Kratos' body pinned to the wall with blood splattered everywhere; she approached his body, placed a hand on his shoulder, and closed her eyes as if to say a prayer for his soul. A few seconds later, she removed her hand from his shoulder and somberly said, "Go be with your family, Spartan." She turned around again became horrified at the fact that Pandora's Box was nowhere to be found. "Where's Pandora's Box?" She searched for the box frantically but found nothing; she fell to her knees and began lamenting at the current situation. "Kratos… Xanatos… we failed." She raised her hands to her face as she said, "I failed… again." She then raised her head up towards the sky with tears forming in her eyes, "Athena… I'm so sorry. I failed you."

Then a voice was heard; an elegant woman's voice, _"No you haven't. Not yet."_

Pyrrha's head perked up towards the heavens as she heard the voice speak to her, "Athena?"

 _"Rise Pyrrha. There is still time for you to save the people of Athens."_

Pyrrha rose to her feet as instructed but replied back towards the voice, "How? Pandora's Box is gone and Kratos is dead. I'm also stranded here with no way to return to Athens!"

There was silence.

"Athena?"

Suddenly, the sound of a high-pitched whistle could be heard. Just as suddenly as the whistle appeared, it disappeared in an instant. This confused Pyrrha for a brief second before she heard the sound of a loud neighing coming towards her. She looked up into the air and saw a shadowy figure with wings coming towards her; she looked through the scope of her rifle to get a look at what flew towards her and was relieved at the sight, "The Pegasus!" Pyrrha shouted excitedly. The winged horse landed next to Pyrrha and nuzzled its head with hers, hoping it would comfort the downtrodden Huntress.

 _"Get on the Pegasus, there is no time to lose."_

"But what about Kratos and Pandora's Box?"

 _"Kratos' death is a setback… a setback that I was told would NOT happen… Khronos."_

"Come now, Athena. You talk as if this is Kratos' first time to the Underworld," said a second voice that was also familiar to the Huntress.

"Khronos?"

"In my defense, I said that Kratos would fail his mission without my help. I didn't say anything about him not dying."

"How can you speak so nonchalantly about this?"

"Because death cannot hold those with purpose, Pyrrha."

"What?"

"Get on the Pegasus, and I'll explain everything as you make your way to Athens."

"What about Pandora's Box?"

 _"If Khronos is talking about the event that I think he is, then Ares will be doing exactly what I want him to do."_

"I'm… sorry?" The huntress said perplexed.

 _"With Pandora's Box in Ares' possession, it'll be in the right place for Kratos to use when he rejoins you."_

"Rejoins?" She looked back at Kratos' impaled body inside the temple and remembered the stories that Mateo told her about why Kratos wasn't favored by Hades. "Could there actually be truth to those rumors?" She thought to herself as she climbed onto the Pegasus' back. The winged horse reared its front hooves into the air, ran towards the edge of the staircase while flapping its wings, jumped into the air, and began flying through the air towards Athens with the young Huntress on its back.

Pyrrha held onto the horse's mane as she rode through the air; while riding, she heard the voice of Khronos once again speak to her, "I know you've heard speculations and rumors about Kratos' journey to the Underworld through Mateo, but allow me to give you the full picture as to what happened." Images appeared before Pyrrha as she flew through the air on the winged horse, images of a younger Kratos that played out before the Huntress as he spoke, "Nine years ago, Kratos was sent on a mission by Athena to rescue the sun God, Helios, from the Titan, Atlas. Kratos' search led him to the Underworld, and he would face off against the relentless ferryman named Charon. Charon killed the Spartan, and sent his soul to the pits of Tartarus; however, Kratos was able to fight his way out of Tartarus, make his way back to Charon and, brutally, kill the ferryman the next time they met. Having defeated Charon, Kratos journeyed deeper into Hades and closer to his goal. But on the shore, something caught his attention, and to Kratos… it almost seemed like an apparition." An image of a little girl appeared before Pyrrha; a girl with short, pulled-back brown hair covered by a blue hair band, and wearing a long blue dress while playing a flute.

"Is that…" Pyrrha questioned as her eyes widened at the child that appeared before her.

"Indeed it is."

 **"CALLIOPE!"** The image of Kratos shouted as his ship drew closer towards the shore of Hades' palace. The image of the child ran off towards the castle just as the ship was nearing the shoreline. The image changed to a different scene, with an angry Kratos standing before a woman with long, black hair with part of it in a bun, wearing a long black dress that exposed her cleavage and her stomach, and wearing golden jewelry as her bun, and as arm bands and bracelets on both of her wrists. She was elegant, yet somber and hiding a vengeful heart behind her beauty.

"Kratos' journey would lead him to Persephone, wife of Hades and Goddess of the Underworld. She made a deal with him: Kratos would get to be with his child again if he gave up all of his strength and all of his sins. He accepted without hesitation; he got to see his daughter again, but would come to regret his decision when Persephone revealed that she released Atlas from his prison. She then revealed that with both of their might combined, they would tear down the world chain that held Olympus and the mortal realm together; causing the end of the world. If her plan succeeded, the whole world, including the Underworld, would have been destroyed. Kratos regained his strength, but was forced to abandon his child." Tears began to form and fall from Pyrrha's eyes when she saw Kratos struggle with pulling his child from his leg, and eventually push her away in order to regain his lost powers and slay the minions of Persephone to become the Ghost of Sparta once again. Hearing Calliope's cries didn't help keep her composure while on the Pegasus. "During their battle, Kratos would imprison Atlas and force him to hold the world forever on his shoulders by embedding his chains into the Earth itself. The Spartan would also come out victorious in his fight against Persephone by killing her, and eternally earning Hades' ire. He then would return to the world of the living and continue serving the Gods of Olympus." The images disappeared and the Pegasus landed in the courtyard of the Oracle's Temple; Pyrrha dismounted the steed, patted its head, and looked up to the sky again as Khronos spoke again, "As you saw yourself Pyrrha, Kratos is too driven to allow death to keep him down. He will be back, just wait and see."

 _"For now, however, your task is to help as many people as you possibly can escape from Athens. Starting with the Oracle."_

Almost on cue, the Oracle of Athens could be seen running towards Pyrrha away from a Minotaur. Pyrrha ran towards the Oracle, jumped over her, and threw her spear at the creature's chest. The bovine was pinned to the ground; its blood spilled everywhere, and disappeared into nothingness. The Oracle turned around in time to see Pyrrha slay the creature, and pull her weapon out of the ground and ready herself for anything else that may attack them. "Pyrrha Nikos," the Oracle said with relief in her voice, "you've returned to Athens alive! Praise Athena! There's still time for you and Kratos to… wait… where's the Spartan?" She asked as she looked around in search of the Ghost of Sparta. "Where's Pandora's Box?"

"He's… dead. Ares killed him just as we were exiting the temple with Pandora's Box. As for the box… Ares has it." The Oracle stepped back at the news of Kratos' demise, and fell to her knees when she heard that Ares was now in possession of Pandora's Box.

"Then we are doomed," the Oracle said grimly, "and Athens will burn to the ground this day."

"No it won't," Pyrrha said with determination in her voice, "the Gods assured me that Kratos will return and defeat Ares. Right now, I need to get you out of here." She said as she picked the Oracle up and placed her on the Pegasus. Pyrrha mounted the steed and flew towards the docks of Athens; once there, the Oracle dismounted and joined the fleeing citizens on a boat that was set to leave the city. Pyrrha turned her attention towards the direction of the city, tapped the horse's stomach with her heels, and flew into the city in search of survivors.

* * *

While Pyrrha made her way towards Athens on the Pegasus, Kratos' soul fell down towards the Underworld along with the souls of many people who were dying on a daily basis. The River Styx beckoned below; with a current strong enough to carry even the strongest mortal to their eternal resting place. While he was falling, Kratos saw a ledge with someone dangling from it. Using the momentum of his fall, the Spartan made his way towards the human who was dangling from the edge, and grabbed onto their legs just in the nick of time. Kratos had no intention of "resting", he intended to live and return to the world of the living. The human he grabbed on to shouted in pain and almost lost his grip as he shouted, "let go fool! You won't drag me down into that cursed river!"

Normally, Kratos' first instinct at such an insult would have been to jam one of his Blades into the fool's torso, but he restrained himself and continued to use the human's body as a ladder before saying, **"THERE IS A TASK LEFT FOR ME ABOVE. I WILL SEE IT COMPLETED!"** As he climbed onto structure made of bone, a hand of the man used as a ladder grabbed onto Kratos' heel; the Spartan turned around and faced the man who dared grab him, to his surprise the person who grabbed him was a face that Kratos remembered: before he started his journey to kill Ares, the Spartan had just killed the Hydra. He walked into the open mouth of the main head of the beast, and temporarily saved an old man that was captain of the ship the Hydra attacked; unfortunately, Kratos was only interested in the key the old man had in order to rescue other crew members. After taking possession of the key, he released the old man and let him fall to his death towards the Hydra's stomach.

Clearly, the old man remembered the Spartan as he said in fear, "you again?!"

Kratos jerked his foot away from the old man's hand and was about to kick at him but stopped himself. He rolled his eyes and grunted annoyingly at what he did next, for Kratos actually grabbed the old man by the scruff of his shirt, and pulled him up onto the structure with him.

This caught the old man off guard as he slowly stood up, "you… you saved me? Now? Why?"

 **"EITHER BE GRATEFUL I SAVED YOU, OR I CAN TOSS YOU DOWN TO THE RIVER STYX MYSELF."**

"Sorry, sorry." He said as he ran up the bone structure towards the platform that awaited the two.

As Kratos walked up the structure himself, he pondered what he just did. He had just… saved a life. Why? It didn't make any sense to him; he had killed this man without hesitation back in the world of the living, so why didn't he do it again here? A place where the dead head towards their final resting place, or to their endless torment. He was in conflict with himself. Only one possibility came to his thought, **"I SPENT TOO MUCH TIME WITH PYRRHA. SHE MUST BE RUBBING OFF ON ME."** He shook his head of these thoughts and proceeded towards his newest task: escaping the Underworld. Before him stood giant pillars of different sizes made of bone and muscle tissues, with spikes protruding from each corner of the platforms on top. The old man looked on in horror at what lay before them; he gulped hard as he backed away from the edge while Kratos readied himself for a running start. He got low, took in a deep breath of air, snapped his head upwards, and sprinted towards the edge of the platform he was currently on. The old man moved out of the way so as not to get knocked over and watched as the Spartan leapt into the air towards the next pillar. The upper half of his torso was able to land onto the structure, allowing him to use his hands to grab onto the platform and pull himself up onto it. From there, he would continue to jump towards the pillar next to him. The old man, wanting to get out of the Underworld, attempted to do the same thing; unfortunately, he stumbled over his own feet, and his own momentum caused him to roll off the side and down towards the River Styx.

Kratos, hearing the old man's scream once he reached the top, turned around and threw his hands up into the air and let them flop back down as if to say, "well, saving him proved to be useless now didn't it?" Either way, now he was free to escape the Underworld without having to worry about babysitting anyone. He jumped and climbed onto the next large platform where there was more than enough room to move around on and fight on. When he pulled himself up, he saw that there were three Flaming Legionnaire Captains patrolling the area; almost simultaneously, the creatures turned their heads towards the Spartan and readied their weapons against him. Just as they advanced towards him, Kratos summoned the Army of the Undead from his blades and they attacked without mercy. Some were able to break the Legionnaire Captain's scythes in half; others were slamming them to the ground relentlessly until they were nothing but stain on the ground. Kratos was pleased as he realized that the spirits seemed to be stronger in the Underworld than in the living world. With the Flaming Legionnaire Captains defeated, Kratos jumped onto the next platform and repeated the process. Afterwards, he jumped towards the next platform above him and walked down a small bridge made of bone and onto a moving cylinder made of muscle tissue with spike protruding every ten feet. Kratos carefully began walking the opposite direction of the spinning platform while avoiding the blades for what seemed like an eternity; there were a few occasions where there were small platforms nearby where he could jump towards to fight off the occasional flaming Harpy or even Flaming Undead Archer, and continue on his path across the annoying pillars.

* * *

At the same time that Kratos was fighting his way out of the Underworld, Pyrrha made her way through Athens in search of any citizens left in the city. She flew over the city on the Pegasus towards the temple of Zeus and searched the surrounding area for any signs of life; she mostly ran into Undead Archers and Legionnaires that she was able to quickly and easily dispatch, but not any citizens. She entered into nearby homes and searched one at a time, listening for any sign of life; she eventually came across a family of three (a mother, and her two daughters) in a seemingly abandoned house cuddled up together and away from the windows. "It's ok," Pyrrha reassured them, "I'm here to help you." She reached out her hand towards the mother, who took it willingly while the daughters hugged tightly onto their rescuer. Pyrrha rubbed the heads of the children before exiting their home cautiously; she whistled and the Pegasus that she used for travel landed next to her. She helped the family onto the winged horse and said, "Hold on tight. This Pegasus will take you to the docks. There are ships there that are still evacuating people."

"Thank you, thank you so much" the mother said.

"It's no problem, miss," she said as she patted the Pegasus on the rear to tell it to leave.

* * *

As Pyrrha continued to rescue citizens and fight off the minions of Ares, Kratos continued his journey through the Underworld. He jumped across moving platforms floating above a great chasm while avoiding being shot at by fire arrows from Flaming Undead Archers; he hurled bolts of lightning at the Archers in retaliation, thus clearing up his path. Once to the other side, he climbed upward on the mountain-like terrain in the Underworld and engaged in combat with Flaming Armored Minotaurs wielding giant axes. Upon seeing them, Kratos did two things: first he summoned the Minions of Hades to attack the bovine beasts, and the second thing he did was change his Blades of Chaos to the Blade of Artemis; he joined in on the rampage on the creatures without hesitation and without mercy as he hacked off the creatures' limbs whenever the ghost warriors brought the beasts to the ground for the Spartan.

He continued his climb, fought off Archers and Minotaurs, and came to spinning, giant, metal pillar with curved spikes protruding from it from random spots. He stood in front of the imposing tower for a while to observe the pattern of the spikes, how to time his climb, and whether it would be a good idea to use the spikes as his stepping stools. He glared at the top and slowly looked down the tower until his gaze met the bottom; his strategy was created and his mind was made up. He waited for the first blade to appear in front of him, grabbed onto the un-sharpened end, and began his ascent.

* * *

Meanwhile, up on the living realm, Pyrrha was riding the Pegasus through Athens in search of any survivors while at the same time, fighting off the Minions of Ares. She scoured the city and directed the flying horse toward the ground towards a man and a woman running from two Wraiths. As the Pegasus made its way towards the creatures, Pyrrha unsheathed her Xiphos, transformed it into its spear mode, and readied herself to strike; she jumped from the flying horse and propelled herself towards the creatures. Just as the beasts raised their blade to strike at the fleeing humans, Pyrrha placed her spear in front of her hands, grabbed her other hand onto it, and drove the handle of the spear into the backs of the Wraiths; allowing her to pin them to the ground and perform a front flip onto her feet in front of the people. She rose up her shield, transformed her spear into its Xiphos mode, and charged the beasts before they had an opportunity to sink into the ground. She beheaded the first one, stepped on the arm of the other, and stabbed it through the back. As the beasts' corpse disappeared, Pyrrha instructed the couple to get on the Pegasus' back and escape to the docks. They thanked her, and they flew off on the horse.

The Pegasus didn't get too far when Pyrrha heard a familiar voice call out to her, _"Pyrrha, you must return to the Oracle's Temple."_

"What happened? Is it under siege?"

 _"No, something else is about to happen. Make your way there as soon as you can."_

Pyrrha heard something flying through the air toward her; she rose up her shield in the nick of time to deflect an arrow coming towards her. She looked towards the direction of the projection of the arrow and saw quite a few Undead Archers aiming their bows at the Huntress. She took cover behind some rubble just as the other six Archers shot at her. "It might take a while, Athena" Pyrrha said out loud before launching her counter attack.

* * *

Back in the Underworld: Kratos had succeeded in climbing up not only one spike tower, but two of them. He walked away from the contraption and made his way across more elevated bone pillars; making sure to avoid the falling souls in the process. After making his way across the pillars, he pulled himself up onto a large platform; as soon as he made his way to the center of the platform, two Flaming Satyrs shot out of pools of darkness to intercept him. Kratos unsheathed the Blades of Chaos from his back and engaged the creatures in combat; despite being outnumbered, Kratos was able to block and avoid each strike from the Satyrs and counter with strikes from his fists, landing a blow on both of them. The beasts re-gathered themselves and tried attacking again, only for the Spartan to catch one of their staffs before it hit him, swing one into the other, and cause them to land away from him. The creatures kipped up onto their feet, spun their staffs around their bodies, and tried attacking Kratos from above and below; the Spartan was not so easily discouraged as he again was able to dodge each attack by either lifting his leg to avoid a strike from below, or move to the side to avoid an attack from above. He kicked the Satyr away from him, causing it to fall to the ground; however, the other Satyr avoided its comrade's body by jumping over it. As soon as it landed, Kratos stabbed the creature in its face; the body went limp and disintegrated into nothingness, leaving only one. Kratos heard something in the distance though: as soon as the Satyr was slain, a pillar rose from the depths of Hades and matched the height of the platform he stood on. It stood alone far away; when Kratos realized this and saw another Satyr pop from the ground, he knew exactly what it was that he had to do. He tightened his grip on his blades, and went to work.

* * *

Pyrrha stuck her rifle out from behind the pillar she hid behind and began firing at the Undead Archers that shot at her; one by one, each of them fell before her. Besides Archers, she shot at Harpies that circled above trying to attack her. Just as she finished off the remaining Archers, the Pegasus flew through the Harpy cluster and killed most of them. It landed next to Pyrrha and the Huntress jumped onto its back, "we need to head back to the Oracle's Temple" she told the flying horse. It nodded its head, and began flying in the direction of the temple with the Harpies following behind them. The young Huntress turned around on the flying horse and began firing at the Harpies that followed them. As she shot down each Harpy one by one, one stray Harpy flew towards Pyrrha from a different direction; the Pegasus neighed to warn Pyrrha, she turned around, saw the Harpy, quickly transformed her rifle into its Xiphos mode, and sliced the Harpy in two.

After flying for what seemed like an eternity, Pyrrha had finally reached the entrance of the Oracle's Temple; the building itself was in shambles and didn't resemble the once great architect it once was when the young Huntress first arrived with Kratos. The bridge that connected the mountain path to the temple was destroyed, so no one, if anyone, was left they couldn't escape. She looked around the courtyard and noticed that the pile of dirt that the gravedigger she met before was bigger, huge even. She walked towards the hole and jumped back a bit as the old man with worms in his hair suddenly popped up from where he was working like a gopher.

"Ah, you're back," he said with a smile on his face, "and just in time too."

"Have you" Pyrrha asked, "been digging here the entire time?"

"Oh yes, child. It was very important that I continued, for the time is nigh."

"In what way?"

"Would you tie this rope around this block for me?" He asked as he secured the other end of the rope around a sturdy tree stump nearby. Pyrrha was hesitant at first, but did as the strange old asked.

"Now what?" she asked as she handed the block to the old man.

"Watch" was his only reply as he dropped the brick into the hole.

* * *

Kratos, took his blade out of the body of the Satyr and watched as the final pillar rose from the depths of the Underworld. He jumped across each pillar without hesitation until he reached the literal end of the trail. He made it to a large platform and looked at the emptiness before him, wondering what he was to do next. Suddenly, he heard a noise from above him, a sound of something heavy falling towards him. He looked up to see a block of concrete tied to rope falling to the platform he stood on; not looking the gift horse in the mouth, Kratos immediately made his way towards the concrete and began climbing up the rope tied to it. He climbed, and climbed, and climbed up the rope until the image of the Underworld completely vanished and turned into dirt. From dirt, he saw the night sky, and with the night sky he saw clouds; he looked around and saw a flabbergasted Pyrrha Nikos and the gravedigger smiling the biggest smile. He jumped from the rope and onto solid ground; he was back in the mortal realm.

"Ah, Kratos" the old man began, "and not a moment too soon. I only just finished digging just a moment ago."

 **"WHO ARE YOU?"** the Spartan asked with the utmost curiosity.

"And how did you know this would happen?" the young Huntress asked, still hardly believing what just transpired before her.

"Now those are interesting questions," the old man replied. Just as he finished his sentence, a loud explosion caught the attention of everyone present. "But for now," he spoke again turning towards the two warriors, "the both of you must hurry. Athens needs you."

 **"BUT HOW DID YOU KNOW I WAS…"**

"Athena isn't the only God keeping watch on you two, Spartan." Another explosion caught their attention, and this time when they turned back around the old man was gone. They searched but only his voice could be heard as he said, "Complete your task Kratos, and the Gods will forgive your sins." The disappearance of the old man, along with his final message, left the two speechless and confused. Was he really a God? If so, which one?

The two were about to head towards the temple, but Pyrrha spoke up, "Kratos… are you actually… alive?"

 **"DO YOUR EYES DECEIVE YOU, PYRRHA?"** he asked in a challenging tone.

"No they don't… it's just… the pillar at the temple… I watched you die… "

 **"THERE'S NO TIME FOR AN EXPLANATION, WE NEED TO MOVE. NOW."**

"You're right… I'm sorry."

Kratos grunted at those two words, causing Pyrrha to lightly chuckle. They headed into the ruined temple and made quick work of every single opposition that came before them. They powered their way through the temple and ran through a destroyed outdoor area that was once the beautiful where the two warriors discussed with the Oracle on how to defeat Ares. Towers were destroyed, the statue of Athena a pile of rubble, and debris everywhere. The two made their way through the passageway, which remained open even when they left, and out towards the foot of the Suicide Bluffs. The two made their way towards the sword bridge and slowly made their way to the edge as they sneaked up on a gloating Ares. Kratos and Pyrrha had traversed the Desert of Lost Souls, bested the deadly traps of Pandora's Temple, and while Pyrrha helped rescue many citizens of Athens, Kratos had escaped Hades itself; there was but one task left.

 **"Zeus!"** Ares said as he raised his arms in the air and shouted towards the heavens with Pandora's Box tied to a chain in his hands, **"Do you see now what your son can do? You cast your favor on Athena, yet her city lies in ruins before me! And now, even Pandora's Box is mine! Would you have me use it against Olympus itself?"** Ares stopped speaking for a moment, for he felt something, or someone, watching him. One presence he recognized as his former minion, yet the other was unfamiliar to him; he turned around to confirm his suspicions and said in a half-impressed tone, **"Kratos… returned even from the Underworld."** He then looked at Pyrrha, **"And his child apprentice."** He turned back around and continued his tirade towards the heavens, **"Is THIS the best you can do, Father? You send a broken mortal and a little girl to defeat me? The God of War?"**

Both warriors took offense to that remark; Kratos summoned a bolt of lightning while Pyrrha transformed her Xiphos into its rifle mode, took aim at the chain that held Pandora's Box, and fired. The chain completely disintegrated and the box fell to the beach below. Pyrrha was about to jump down to secure it, but Kratos held out his arm in front of her to stop the young Huntress. He looked at her with the most serious look she had ever seen and said, **"DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT I SAID TO YOU WHEN WE FIRST MET?"**

The words that Kratos spoke of echoed in Pyrrha's mind as she placed her weapon onto her back. She nodded and said, "Take him down."

Kratos nodded, and jumped to the beach below to reach Pandora's Box. He pushed open the lid and was consumed with light; after thousands of years, Pandora's Box was finally opened. The power of the Gods unleashed. Kratos began to increase in height, and the light energy that surrounded him didn't stop glowing until he had reached the same exact height as Ares. Disdain and disgust was visible in Ares' expression as he saw this mortal grow; this mortal dared to challenge a God of Olympus? He would make this man suffer for his insolence and he would not hold anything back.

 **"You are still just a MORTAL,"** he said as Kratos finally stopped growing, **"every bit as weak as the day you BEGGED me to save your life!"**

 **"I AM NOT THE SAME MAN YOU FOUND THAT DAY,"** Kratos said as he unsheathed the Blades of Chaos from his back and readied himself in a fighting stance, **"THE MONSTER YOU CREATED HAS RETURNED… TO KILL YOU!"**

 **"You have no idea what a TRUE monster is, Kratos!"** Ares slightly bent forward, pulled his arms up to his chest, and grunted as something unexpected happened: out of Ares' back appeared giant, flaming, metal, spider-like limbs. At first they came out one at a time, but as the seconds passed five more emerged from Ares' very back with his armor left undamaged. He stood straight up as if nothing happened; Pyrrha's shook her head almost in disbelief at what she just saw and didn't notice that her jaw dropped and her eyes widened. **"Your final lesson is at hand!"** He shouted as he pointed each of the metal arms towards the Spartan, signaling the beginning of the end.


	22. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own "God of War" or "RWBY"; "God of War" belongs to Santa Monica Studios, while "RWBY" belongs to RoosterTeeth.**

 **"Prepare to join your family, Spartan!"** Ares shouted as he slowly made his way towards his former disciple; his mechanical arms reared back to prepare for a strike, but Kratos moved out of the way before they could touch him. Kratos swung his blades towards his former master, but each strike was met with a mechanical leg. With each strike, there was a loud clanking noise of metal on metal echoing throughout the land. Ares went on the offensive again by pulling out a giant flaming hammer and went to slam it on top of Kratos, but he moved out of the way. Ares swung his hammer horizontally twice, which were dodged both times; then Ares held his hammer in front of his face. The hammer began to glow an unholy, fiery red, and began to spew fire towards the Spartan. Kratos had no choice but to roll out of the way as Ares laughed maniacally at this display of "cowardice". The war god let the hammer disappear and pulled out a giant, glowing axe and swung it at Kratos; the Spartan ducked under the first swing, stepped to the side of the second, and parried the third, causing Ares to stumble back a bit.

The God of War chuckled as he brushed his armor where the Blades of Chaos hit him; Kratos swung his blades at Ares again, but they were blocked once again, and this time Ares parried Kratos' attack by thrusting his mechanical legs towards the Spartan in an attempt to skewer him. Kratos held his blades up just in time to block the oncoming attack; he dug his heels into the ground to keep himself from falling after the attack. He was pushed back, but he didn't bend or break. Though he didn't fall, he didn't react in time as Ares shoulder tackled him, grabbed him with one of his mechanical legs, and pulled him straight into a hard punch that sent the Spartan stumbling backwards. Kratos got back up onto his feet, straightened his jaw with his hand, glared at his former master and charged, with Ares charging as well. Ares pulled out his axe while Kratos merged the Blades of Chaos into the Blade of Artemis; the clashing of their bladed weapons echoed loudly throughout the land; so loud that Pyrrha was forced to cover her ears.

Their blades clashed multiple times until finally they were face to face with each other with only their blades separating them; they stared each other down and didn't budge an inch. Ares smirked, causing Kratos' glare to turn into confusion; he looked up to see the mechanical legs make their way towards him to stab him. The Spartan backed off immediately as the legs crashed down in front of him; he transformed the Blade of Artemis back into the Blades of Chaos, placed them on his back, grabbed the mechanical legs with his arms and began swinging Ares around in a circular motion before releasing his grip on the war god into the nearby mountains. As Ares regained his footing, Kratos charged his former mentor with the intent to stab him; Ares looked up in time, grabbed the Spartan's wrists and arrogantly said, **"Ah, is that the best you can do?"** Ares took the opportune moment to head butt the Spartan and cause his former pupil to stumble backwards. Kratos looked up in the nick of time to see Ares motion his right side towards him, causing the mechanical legs to make their way to him one leg at a time. Kratos blocked each strike with the Blade of Artemis, and held it there as Ares attempted to skewer him with the left side. This left Ares open temporarily, with Kratos taking full advantage of it by switching the sword back to the twin blades and swing them at Ares; making contact and cutting the war god's exposed legs. Ares groaned in pain as the Blades that he helped create left cuts on his exposed quadriceps, causing him to fall to one knee.

Pyrrha couldn't believe what she was seeing: a mortal was fighting a god, and not only was he holding his own… but caused him to fall to his knee. She couldn't help but smirk at the image that stood in front of her while also thinking to herself how her other teammates would react to this fight if they were there with her.

 **"GET UP, ARES!"** Kratos roared, **"GET UP SO YOU CAN DIE ON YOUR FEET!"**

 **"Aw, how cute,"** Ares replied, **"you actually think you're winning. But you and I both know this fight is FAR from over."** Suddenly, Ares' entire being began to glow red and orange and he sank into the ground. Both Kratos and Pyrrha looked around for the God of War but found no sign of him; suddenly, as quickly as he disappeared, Ares shot out of the ground like a bullet from a gun and levitated in the air. He then began to shoot streams of fire down towards the Spartan, with Kratos rolling out of the way of every attack. Ares landed in front of Kratos as he stood back up, grabbed him by the throat, lifted him into the air, and slammed him into the ground below. He pulled out his hammer and slammed it down towards the Spartan who rolled out of the way in time, **"Why do you resist me, Spartan?"** the God of War demanded as he raised his hammer up towards his face and began shooting more fire towards the Ghost of Sparta. As Kratos continued to dodge the flames from reaching him, Ares shouted at him through the flames, **"Relent! You have already lost, Spartan!"**

Ares ran towards his former disciple and summoned his axe once more; he raised his axe in the air in an attempt to slice his opponent in two, but he never had the chance as Kratos activated Poseidon's Rage. Ares was stopped in his tracks and stumbled backwards as his uncle's magic ran through his body. Ares looked up, and his eyes widened at the sight of dismembered soldiers flying towards him. He gripped his axe and began swinging at the spirits that dared attack him; some disappeared after being hit, while others flew around him and took shots at his armored torso. Ares swung furiously at the spirits until each one ceased to exist; he turned around into Kratos' fists punching him repeatedly in the face. Ares finally raised his hand up in time to catch one of Kratos' fists and threw one of his own, only for it to be caught by the Spartan. They struggled to both free themselves from the others grasp and gain the upper hand; it was Kratos' turn to smirk as he head butted Ares, causing the God of War to stumble back and give Kratos an opening. While Ares held the area that Kratos hit, Kratos stepped onto the god's knees, climbed up onto Ares' shoulders, grabbed one of the mechanical legs, and used two of them to impale his former master. Pyrrha jumped in excitement as she shouted, "you got him" upon seeing this fight come to an end… or so she thought.

Ares was extremely resilient as he roared in pain as he both was impaled by his own machinations, and pulled said legs out of his torso. He roared in anger at suffering such humiliation at the hands of a mortal. A mortal that he trained, **"I trained him too well,"** he thought to himself, **"but there is one thing that he's nowhere near prepared for… and I shall enjoy every second of his flailing."** His hands suddenly were encircled with an electric energy; he placed his hands in front of him and the energy began to pull Kratos in. The force was so strong that Kratos was having a hard time standing up, so he was forced to place his blades into the ground and hold on for dear life on the handles of his blades. This didn't stop Ares though; as he amped up the energy, one of the blades that was stabbed into the ground was pulled into the vortex almost immediately. Kratos tried to pull his blade out, but it was no use… for he was eventually pulled in as well.

Pyrrha sprang into action immediately as she began firing at the exposed muscle of the God of War, hoping that it would do something. To her surprise, Ares actually felt it as he yelled as if a had bee stung him. Pyrrha's eyes widened at this and continued to fire relentlessly. Ares turned his attention towards Pyrrha's direction and glared at the Huntress who dared shoot at him. **"That child's weapon actually stung?"** He thought to himself. He began to block Pyrrha's shots with his armored forearms as he continued to think, **"Wait a minute, I've felt this magic before… but where?"** Suddenly, an idea came to his mind and he smirked at the thought of it. **"Child,"** he called out, **"my brother Hephaestus forged that weapon for you, didn't he?"**

"What if he did?" Pyrrha shouted defiantly.

 **"So Hephaestus,"** he thought to himself, **"you still haven't forgiven me for mine and Aprhodite's affair… very well. If you and Athena send these foolish mortals after me, I might as well break them both equally."** He split the vortex in two and raised one of his hands up towards the direction of the Huntress with a sinister grin on his face. **"Watching you squirm should prove to be just as entertaining as breaking the Spartan,"** he said to the young Huntress as he opened another vortex and pulled her in easier than he did to Kratos.

Both warriors found themselves falling through the air in a dimension that seemed void of everything; with the only thing they could see was a sky that was the same color as the energy that Ares summoned from his hand. Neither warrior was able to see the other as Ares made sure to separate them; the war god spoke and both warriors heard different things. For Kratos, Ares said through the void, **"I taught you many ways to kill a mortal, Kratos: flesh that burns, bones that break… but to break a man's spirit is to truly destroy him!"**

With Pyrrha, she heard, **"I taught Kratos many ways to kill a mortal, child: flesh that burns, bones that break… but the one thing I didn't teach him was that in order to truly destroy a person, is to break their spirit!"** At the end of these speeches, both warriors finally found themselves crashing onto the ground and walking away from the small crater they made; Kratos wobbled away and almost struggled to stand as he placed his hand on a building's wall to keep him steady, while Pyrrha's aura flashed at the hard impact and stood straight up with little problems to look at the building that stood before her.

* * *

Ares taunted Kratos once again as he said, **"Do you recognize this place, Spartan? The location of your greatest failure? Perhaps there is a way for you to undo the deeds of the past."** The giant, stone building that stood before him possessed two giant stone statues of Athena on both sides with a giant wooden door with the Omega symbol on it; the nightmares that had haunted Kratos for the last ten years had now taken form and substance… his past stood before him.

* * *

As for Pyrrha, Ares spoke to her both in an almost interested tone towards the young Huntress, and also in an entertained tone, **"I do not know where Athena found you, child… but this dimension reveals your greatest failure. I will take much pleasure in watching both you and the Spartan pathetically attempt to right your wrongs."** Pyrrha's eyes widened in disbelief and her jaw fell agape; for the building that stood before her was a gigantic, ivory tower with a giant wooden door surrounded by three stained-glass windows. There were spires on all sides of this gigantic building with arches stretching all around her, and one tower stood taller than everything around it: she was in front of her old school. "Beacon Academy," she said in disbelief, "it can't be..." She opened the door and ran through the hallway towards the elevator. "My greatest failure," she pondered to herself as she entered the elevator and felt herself travel upwards. She unsheathed her weapons from her back and walked through the doors; what she saw before her caused her to experience shock and disdain at the same time. "You!" she shouted as she held up her rifle in front of her.

* * *

At the same time as Pyrrha's venture, Kratos took a moment to regain his strength, looked up at the door in front of him, and kicked it open to reveal a sight he had longed to see for ten years: two females (a child and a fully-grown woman) holding each other in their arms. The woman wore a blue and white dress with a blue headband covering the front of her long brown hair, and the child was almost the spitting image of the woman that she held on to for dear life; his wife Lysandra and his daughter Calliope stood before him. "Kratos!" Lysandra responded at the sight of her husband, "What's going on here? Where are we?"

Kratos stood almost speechless at what he saw before him, **"BY THE GODS,"** he finally let out, **"CAN THIS BE REAL?"**

* * *

The figure before Pyrrha turned around to reveal an all too familiar sinister smile across her face; half of her left eye covered by her long, black hair, her amber eyes full of malice, evil, cockiness, and a rather large green flower decorating her red dress that cut off just below her hips. "Invincible Girl", the figure said once she faced the young Huntress. She summoned a ball of fire into her hand before speaking again, "come to die at my hands again?"

Not backing down, Pyrrha defiantly responded, "Much has changed since last we fought."

"We shall see about that," she said arrogantly as she levitated into the air with fiery yellow energy emerging from her eyes and from under her high-heels. In that instant, Pyrrha knew that in order to help Kratos, she had to fight her own demons and redeem herself: the rematch with Cinder Fall was under way.

* * *

As for Kratos, his trial was far more heinous: clones of himself started appearing everywhere around him and his family with each of them foaming from the mouth, hunched over, and poised to attack at any second. They barked like mad dogs and possessed a crazed look in their eyes. Calliope hid behind her mother as she called for her father; all the while, Ares could be heard laughing at everything that was unfolding before the two warriors. **"ARES!"** Kratos shouted, **"THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN PUT IN MY WAY TO STOP ME! I WILL SAVE MY FAMILY!"**

* * *

Cinder and Pyrrha attacked each other simultaneously: Cinder shot streams of fire while Pyrrha fired with her rifle with each attack canceling out the other. Cinder shot out a large vortex of fire from her hand, only for Pyrrha to block with her shield. The stealer of the maiden powers then motioned her other hand upward, causing an orange energy to appear beneath Pyrrha's feet; the young Huntress noticed this and rolled forward out of the way in time to avoid a blast of energy that exploded from the ground. Pyrrha jumped and lunged towards Cinder with the attempt to stab her with her spear, only for her opponent to side step out of the way in time. Pyrrha continued the stab attempts, slashed at her adversary, and constantly switch her weapon's form to throw off her opponent. Cinder herself began to attempt to land blows herself by throwing a few heel kicks, flame covered fists, and back flipping in order to dodge some attacks. When she tried to throw another heel kick, Pyrrha ducked under it and landed a solid hit with her shield to send her into the air. Cinder re-positioned herself in the air, propelled herself down towards the Huntress with her maiden powers at a rapid speed with the intent to slam her fiery fists into her, only for Pyrrha to cartwheel out of the way and fire her rifle in retaliation. Cinder tried to block with her power of fire, but underestimated the god-powered weapon as it actually sent her flying into the nearby window and causing it to crack.

* * *

While Pyrrha's fight was happening, Kratos stood in front of his family with an unwavering determination to protect them. He sent his Blades of Chaos flying towards each clone that dared attempt to harm his family; with each swing of his blades, another rabid clone of himself was beheaded, bisected, or dismembered in some way shape or form. During the chaos, one clone jumped out of a pit of darkness from the wall and was able to climb onto Kratos' shoulders. It attempted to stab Kratos from above, but was unable to as the Spartan grabbed its wrist in time; he struggled only for a brief moment before Kratos stabbed his clone in the gut, and used its carcass to toss onto the oncoming horde. The swarm seemed to be never-ending; but no matter how many deranged clones appeared before him, no matter how relentless they were, Kratos would not back down. He stood his ground. He refused to let a single clone get past him and touch his family. That determination, that very drive was what kept him fighting and gave him a strength he had not felt in years. A strength he was hoping would carry him through this trial and save his family… hope. He hadn't thought of that in years, and yet he was depending on it now as he continued to cut down more rabid clones.

* * *

Cinder looked up with a glare in her eyes as the young Huntress charged the new Fall Maiden; Cinder once again shot a vortex of fire at Pyrrha who blocked with her shield and powered through to get closer to her adversary. Once she was close enough, she stepped to the side and tried to stab at Cinder again, only for the blade to be caught in her bare hands. Remembering what happened last time, Pyrrha reacted quickly by lifting up her leg and delivering a hard kick straight into Cinder's stomach, causing the wind to be knocked out of her and force her to let go of the weapon. While she was hunched over, Pyrrha kneed her in the face, causing Cinder to stumble back. Pyrrha rushed her opponent to take advantage of the situation and slashed twice, only for Cinder to block both attacks and cartwheel backwards with one of her kicks sending Pyrrha into the air. Pyrrha re-positioned herself in the air and threw both of her weapons at Cinder who was preparing an attack herself; Pyrrha's xiphos hit Cinder's right hand, her shield hit Cinder's left hand, and left the new Fall Maiden completely open. Pyrrha grabbed Cinder as she fell to the ground and slammed her on the floor. Pyrrha had Cinder locked in a full nelson and refused to let go as they both stood up.

"You were not this strong last time!" Cinder said angrily as she attempted to break free from the hold.

"I told you already," Pyrrha replied while keeping her hold on Cinder, "much has changed since last we fought."

"Perhaps," Cinder said as she turned towards the window with a glow in her eyes, "but there is an old saying: the more things change… the more they stay the same." Pyrrha looked up to see exactly what Cinder was talking about: the very Dragon Grimm (or Wyvern Grimm) that had woken from its slumber was flying towards the Ivory tower with the intent to ram it.

"Not this time" Pyrrha said as she slammed Cinder with a suplex and rolled away from her, recalling her weapons in the process. Pyrrha charged the windows with her shield in front of her face, and crashed through the window. With the few seconds she spent in the air, she was able to grab onto the wing of the giant Grimm as it rammed the tower. The Grimm continued to fly in an attempt to shake the young Huntress from it, but she would not let go… not even when she stabbed her xiphos into its arm. The beast roared in pain with each stab wound the young huntress left. Pyrrha stabbed the beast's arm a total of ten times before the beast tried spinning in the air to throw her off, but Pyrrha would not let go and refused to be shaken off. She transformed her weapon into its spear mode, dug it into the beasts' arm, ran down its arm with the spear still embedded into the muscle, and made her way towards its wings where they were torn apart with her very blade. The creature began to lose altitude with the loss of its wing and, as a result, fell to the ground below. Before the beast ever hit the ground, Pyrrha released herself from the Grimm's wing, was rapidly lifted into the air, and unloaded on the creature; with each shot from her rifle, the Grimm below her twitched almost like a marionette as holes were left in it. Pyrrha fired one last shot into the beast's skull just as it hit the ground, killing it instantly and disintegrating into nothingness as Pyrrha landed in front of it. "Where did that brutality come from?" She said to herself as she looked at the Grimm's destroyed wing and then at her own hands, "It must be Kratos rubbing off on me… that's not a good thing." She shook her head and readied her weapons once more as the Grimm's body completely disappeared and revealed Cinder pointing a bow and arrow directly at her.

* * *

Kratos continued his onslaught of the rabid clones of himself while defending his family; with every clone he cut down, two more seemed to take its place. It was quite worrisome as Kratos was constantly thinking about keeping each of these demons away from his family. As he held back a group of his clones, one made its way past him and made a b-line toward his family. Kratos pushed the clones away from him and summoned the spirits of the Underworld to assist him; one flew up from underneath the clone that attempted to strike Kratos' wife and child just in time and cut it in half, while the other spirits fought against the constantly growing horde. Kratos made a b-line for his family to check on them; when he saw that they were unharmed, he released a sigh of relief, hugged both his wife and child, and constantly repeated the words 'I'm sorry' to his family. He released his grip on his family and returned to the fight just as the spirits faded. Now with each clone he cut down, something interesting began to occur: the very walls of the temple began to shake. With each strike that Kratos made with either his Blades of Chaos or with the Blade of Artemis, the walls continued to shake until finally the temple itself broke apart. Every single brick and every single wooden pillar that held the temple together exploded everywhere and flew upwards, leaving Kratos and his family completely exposed in the dimension that Ares had placed him in. This change in scenery, however strange it was, did not stop the Ghost of Sparta from fighting his demons and defend his family. He continued onward and refused to relent.

* * *

Cinder released the arrow from her bow and Pyrrha rolled out of the way just as it exploded behind her; Pyrrha threw her shield again, only for Cinder to duck out of the way and prepare another arrow for the young Huntress. What Cinder didn't realize was that the shield ricocheted off the wall behind her and smacked her in the back of the head. Pyrrha took this opportunity to slash at Cinder repeatedly and, remembering what Kratos told her, did not hold anything back. She constantly switched between spear mode and rifle mode and eventually shot Cinder into the wall of the school. Pyrrha stood in a battle stance and noticed something very intriguing happen before her; Cinder's entire being flickered an orange color before completely fading: her aura had run out. This was her chance, and she wasn't going to let it slip. She carefully approached her fallen foe; she was wise be cautious, for Cinder had summoned glass shards and shot them at the young Huntress who blocked it with her shield. Cinder would not stop firing even as the red-haired warrior continued marching towards her. Cinder tried to fire again, only for Pyrrha to slice her hand off with her xiphos. Cinder screamed in pain and tried to fire again with her other hand, only to be met with the same result. As the fallen maiden screamed in pain, she attempted to stand up and attack Pyrrha with whatever she had left, only for Pyrrha to thrust her xiphos into her chest. Blood began to drip from the xiphos and onto the ground as Cinder fell to her knees gasping for air.

As the life drained from Cinder, Pyrrha glared at her fallen opponent and said to her, "do you still believe in destiny?" Cinder weakly looked up at the Huntress and refused to answer her vocally, she instead answered with a grin. "Do us both a favor," Pyrrha began, "and stay in my memory."

Pyrrha removed her blade from the maiden's chest, and Cinder's final words were as followed, "you and I both know… " She coughed before finishing her sentence, "that I will never be just a memory." The life faded from Cinder's eyes, she fell onto her back, and released a final breath.

As this unfolded before her, Pyrrha took in what just happened: she had slain her killer. Though something didn't sit right with her... for even though she had proven to finally be able to best the woman who killed her, thanks to training with Athena and gaining quite a bit of experience with Kratos, the figure that lay before her was not the real Cinder. It was only a figment from her memory; she knew that the real one was still alive in her home era doing who knows what to her school, and there was nothing she could do about it. She tightened her grip on her weapon for a brief moment of frustration, but then she remembered a certain image that Khronos showed her: the image of her teammates Nora and Ren, her friend Ruby, and her beloved Jaune standing united together despite what had happened at Beacon. That little reminder put her mind at ease and she loosened her grip on her weapon. She found herself at peace but had no time to soak in that little bit of serenity as the environment around her flashed a bright light; she covered her eyes with her shield for a brief moment and when she lowered her shield, the sight before her sent feelings of both shock and horror through her being: before her was an army of Kratos clones all attempting to converge on one location but were constantly being cut down.

She squinted her eyes to try and get a closer look at where the Kratos clones were converging towards and saw the real Kratos slashing at anything that moved; she also saw an unwavering look of determination in his eye. She was confused for a brief moment until she saw two women standing behind him and holding each other in his arms. She recognized the child from the vision that Khronos showed her about Kratos' past while returning from Pandora's Temple. "Calliope…" Pyrrha whispered to herself; she looked up at the woman that the child gripped onto and spoke to herself again, "that woman must be her mother… Kratos' wife." Pyrrha took in her surrounding one more time, remembered the dimension that Ares trapped her in, and immediately realized what was happening to Kratos; she readied her xiphos and ran towards the crowd of clones as she said to herself, "Ares, you monster!"

While making her way to Kratos, some of the clones noticed the Huntress and broke off from the main group to attack her. Pyrrha hit a clone with an uppercut using her shield and sent its head flying, ducked under a slash attempt from another and stabbed it through the chest with her xiphos, and blocked an attack from one that wielded a fake Blade of Artemis. She transformed her xiphos into its spear mode and stabbed at the Kratos clone multiple times before kicking it into the group in front of her. Pyrrha noticed a piece of land that floated separately from the the one they were fighting on, as well as a Kratos clone emerging from a pit of darkness summoning a bolt of lightning in his hand; Pyrrha rolled out of the way from a clone that attempted to attack her, transformed her weapon into its rifle mode, and fired at the clone that was all alone on the floating piece of land. She then turned her attention towards the clones that surrounded Kratos and open fired on them all; Kratos shielded himself from the exploding corpses and looked up to see familiar face emerge from the barrage of his copies.

 **"PYRRHA?"** He said both relieved to see reinforcements arriving and confused as to why she was in the dimension helping him, **"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"** He asked as he cut a copy of himself in half with his Blades of Chaos.

"Would you believe me if I told you that Ares forced me to face my demons like he's making you do?" She asked as she cut down another clones.

 **"SO I'M GUESSING YOU CONQUERED YOUR DEMONS?"** He asked while cutting down more copies of himself.

"Yes," the young Huntress replied as she shot another fake Kratos, "and now I guess I'm here to help you bury yours."

Almost on cue, the group found themselves surrounded once more by rabid copies of the Spartan; they stood back-to-back with each other and stared down the horde. The clones rushed the two at once, but were pushed back as a bolt of lightning struck Kratos from above; the impact sent the horde flying away from them, with some falling off of the edge: Kratos had activated his Rage of the Gods form. Both warriors tightened their grips on their weapons and immediately went to work. The clones didn't stand a chance as both warriors attacked with such speed and brutality that they almost appeared to be blurs of blue and red making their way through them. Limbs were sent flying, torsos were cut in half, and much blood was spilled… all while protecting Kratos' wife and child. One by one, the clones fell prey to the onslaught of the Spartan and the Huntress until the numbers clearly began to dwindle. This continued for three minutes; when the last clone appeared to attempt to kill Kratos' family, Kratos and Pyrrha appeared in front of it to prevent it from reaching them; Pyrrha stabbed it in the chest with her spear, while Kratos sliced off its head with his blade. Just as the final body turned to dust, Kratos' Rage of the Gods form dissipated; both warriors panted softly as they realized that they had just done the impossible: they had both saved Kratos' family.

"Kratos," Lysandra said in a begging tone while hanging on to her child, "please take us home!"

 **"DO YOU SEE, GOD OF WAR?"** Kratos roared towards the sky of the dimension, **"YOU TOOK THEM ONCE, BUT YOU'LL NEVER HAVE THEM AGAIN!"**

The dimension shook as Ares arrogantly spoke, **"Neither you nor the girl can save them Kratos. You gave them up in your quest for ultimate power; there is a price to pay for EVERYTHING you gain."**

 **"NOT THAT PRICE,"** Kratos said in shame as he lowered his head, **"I DIDN'T WANT THEM TO DIE."**

"What you and The Furies concocted was atrocious, Ares!" Pyrrha shouted as she re-sheathed her weapons, "How can you justify what you made Kratos go through?"

 **"I am a OLYMPIAN you foolish child,"** Ares roared, **"No price is ever too high for what we offer! Especially not to the Spartan!"**

Pyrrha felt an invisible force swat her off of her feet and almost completely off of the floating landscape that she, Kratos, and his family stood on. She gripped onto the edge for dear life and struggled to pull herself back onto solid ground. Kratos attempted to run to the Huntress to help her, but was pulled up into the air by the same force that pushed Pyrrha; his arms were pulled to the side to resemble a cross as the Blades of Chaos were being ripped from Kratos' forearms. While this happened, Ares spoke enraged at the Spartan, **"But you Kratos… you rejected me! A GOD! Now you will have no magic, no power! All that is left for you is death!"** Kratos screamed in pain as the Blades of Chaos were ripped from the flesh of his forearms; the extreme pain ran through his nervous system like nothing had ever done before and he was barely able to move because of it. The Blades of Chaos floated in the air during Ares' speech, then quickly flew straight towards Kratos' family… killing them just as Pyrrha finally regained her footing. Pyrrha covered her mouth in horror, and tears ran down both hers and Kratos' face as they watched the two female bodies drop to the ground with the Blades of Chaos embedded in them.

Kratos was broken; he could only lift himself onto his knees as he said through his tears, **"NO, NOT… NOT AGAIN."**

In the blink of an eye, Kratos and Pyrrha found themselves outside of the dimension and back in Athens; Kratos was on his knees and Pyrrha was standing on the side of the cliff. Ares walked behind Kratos with a flaming sword in his hand and lifted it as if to execute his former pupil. As the God of War used his metal legs to lift himself into the air, he berated the Spartan one more time, **"You should have joined me, Kratos! You should have been stronger!"** Right when Ares metal legs reached its maximum height, a small bolt of lightning struck Ares' wrist… both stinging him and causing him to flinch. He turned towards the cliffs and saw Pyrrha aiming her weapon directly at him. She continued to fire at the war god and refused to back down even as he made his way towards her. **"Your interference was amusing at first, little girl… but now it's starting to become quite cumbersome."**

As Ares made his way towards her, Pyrrha whistled loudly and ran off the side of the cliff. This confused the God of War as he watched the girl fall to her doom… or so he thought. Before Pyrrha fell into the water below, the Pegasus that Athena introduced her to flew underneath the Huntress and caught her on its back in the blink of an eye. The winged horse began to fly upwards until it was at the same height as Ares; the war god merely chuckled at what was in front of him and attempted to slash at it with his sword, only for the horse to fly out of the way and circle him. As it did this, Pyrrha continued to fire her weapon at Ares, who flinched with every shot that connected with his skin; every attempt to swat Pyrrha out of the sky was in vain as the horse proved to be too quick for him. Ares attempted to punch the horse out of the sky, but Pyrrha jumped off the horse's back, with the horse descending beneath the giant arm, and the Huntress landing on the god's armor. She ran up his arm and slashed at the exposed muscle, which irritated the god further. She made her way up to the top of his shoulder armor, transformed her xiphos into a spear, and leaped towards Ares face. Her attempted stab was in vain though, for Ares' glowing hair and beard turned into a raging inferno that pushed Pyrrha back and sent her falling. She noticed something while she was falling: her entire being glowed red and green, and the sound of an unstable flickering. Her aura was completely shattered from that attack. Luckily she didn't have to worry about dying from falling as the Pegasus flew beneath her and caught her on its back. "That one attack depleted my aura," she thought to herself, "I have to be extremely careful now."

As Ares continued to fight Pyrrha, Kratos weakly looked up from where he was and saw the bridge that looked like a giant sword. **"BY THE GODS…"** he said to himself, seeing this as a miracle. The battle was not over; the gods, it seemed, had a final gift for Kratos. He ran to the sword, grabbed it by the hilt and its blade and began to pull. While doing this, he completely ignored a female figure with white, body length hair that split in two. Her skin was deathly green and her nails were longer than any knife that any mortal had forged. She wore a golden helmet that covered her forehead and the side of her ears as well as a golden armored corset, along with armor that covered the top of her shoulders in the pattern of feathers. The bottom of her dress seemed to take the appearance of feathers, but radiated with darkness. Kratos didn't have time to take into consideration who or what this creature was that lay unconscious on the sword as he pulled it out of its holding place and letting the woman fall to the sea. **"ARES!"** Kratos bellowed as he pulled on the sword, catching the war god's attention, as he was about to swat Pyrrha out of the sky, **"YOUR FIGHT IS WITH ME!"**

Ares grinned and spoke to the Huntress one more time before facing his former minion, **"You got lucky, child. Once I'm done with the Spartan, I'll be back to finish you."** Pyrrha lightly tapped the Pegasus' side with her boots to signal the winged horse to land; once they were on solid ground, Pyrrha released a sigh of relief and began to pet the horse as she watched the fight enter into what she knew would be the finale. Ares readied his sword for battle, and stood confused at the sight of Kratos' new weapon, **"Where did you get that blade?"** The God of War demanded.

 **"I STILL HAVE ALLIES ON OLYMPUS, ARES."** Kratos said as he and Ares circled each other, **"NOW YOU WILL SEE HOW STRONG I AM."**

The two warriors charged each other and slammed their blades together; the clash sent a loud echo throughout the area and continued to do so with each attack. Every attack from the side from one was blocked by the other. Every slash attack from above was blocked, and every stab attempt was sidestepped. Neither warrior was gaining an advantage on the other; but Ares then began to glow and placed his sword in front of him. Kratos attempted to cut off his head, but Ares sank into the ground before the Spartan's blade could reach him. He appeared further away from Kratos and stabbed his sword into the ground. Almost instantly, four giant pillars of rock appeared around Kratos; they closed in on the Spartan at an alarming speed, though not fast enough as Kratos was able to roll out of the way. Kratos charged towards his former master again and rolled out of the way of Ares' metal legs that attempted to stab him; as he got back to his feet, Ares lifted his hand up in front of him, which glowed to resemble that of a giant flame, and shouted **"You cannot defeat me, Spartan!"** as he released an ability that was once Kratos's: the spirits of the Underworld broke apart from Ares and flew towards Kratos to attack him.

It was Kratos' turn to defend himself from the spirits as he blocked each of their blade with his, rolled out of the way of those that flew towards him at an alarming speed, and slash at ones that left themselves open for an attack. When the spirits vanished, Ares raised his blade into the air with the intent to slice his former slave in half, but Kratos raised his blade up in time to block the attack. With all the strength he could muster, Kratos pushed Ares away from him with his sword and created an opening; the Spartan began slashing at the war god from every angle and refused to give Ares an opening. The barrage was so quick that Ares was actually starting to worry a bit as some attacks were getting past his defense and cutting him on his exposed legs and his biceps. Ares stumbled backwards a bit, regained his footing, and began slashing at the Spartan. Each slash from Ares was either blocked, ducked, or sidestepped by Kratos. One slash attempt, that missed, left Ares wide open as Kratos punched Ares in the face. Kratos stepped onto Ares' knees, then onto his shoulders, and leaped into the air. Kratos raised his sword above him and slammed it down; Ares raised his sword above him to block, but the force that Kratos brought down behind the attack was enough to completely shatter Ares' weapon. Ares was in complete disbelief as he watched his sword shatter into pieces, and was caught off guard as Kratos kicked him in the gut and forcing the god to stumble backwards.

 **"Remember Kratos,"** Ares said as he attempted to stand and, almost, plead to his former disciple, **"it was I who saved you. In your time of greatest need!"**

 **"I HAVEN'T FORGOTTON ARES,"** Kratos said with disdain, **"I REMEMBER HOW YOU 'SAVED' ME."**

 **"That night… "** He said remembering back to the day he tricked Kratos into killing his family, **"I was trying to make you into a great warrior!"**

" **YOU SUCCEEDED."** Kratos tightened his grip on the sword in his hand, lunged towards his former master, and stabbed his sword through Ares' throat; the Spartan stared Ares in the face and watched as the life slowly faded from his eyes. Blood spewed everywhere as Kratos pulled the blade out of the God of War. Ares fell to his knees and let out a mighty roar before falling into the water that was their battlefield. A bright light shone from the wound that Kratos left and began drifting upward and away from the corpse of the war god before his body exploded like a hydrogen bomb. As the waves rushed toward the shoreline, Pyrrha stood amazed at what had happened: Kratos had just done the impossible: a mortal defeating a God… Ares was no more.

Though most of Athens lay battered and almost in complete ruin, most of the people survived. The city had been saved and would thrive again. The same could not be said for Kratos, for as he sought to rebuild his soul with the help of the Gods… the truth was revealed to both him and to Pyrrha Nikos.

 **"ATHENA,"** the Spartan said with relief to the statue on his ship, **"RID ME OF THE MEMORIES THAT HAUNT ME STILL."**

 _"You have both done well, Kratos and Pyrrha,"_ the statue of Athena said, _"though we mourn the death of our brother, the Gods are indebted to you."_ Pyrrha nodded her head in agreement and with a smile on her face in anticipation for Kratos' reward to come… only to be dismayed at what Athena said next. _"We promised that your SINS would be forgiven, and so they are. But we never promised to take away your nightmares. No man… no God could ever forget the terrible deeds that you have done."_

Pyrrha shook her head in disbelief while Kratos lowered his in shame and humiliation. "Athena," Pyrrha spoke up, "that's not fair. After everything he's done… after everything that he's been through…"

 _"I'm sorry Pyrrha Nikos, but that is the truth… and sometimes the truth is harsh. It is not our fault that Kratos misinterpreted our deal."_

"But he… "

 _"Unfortunately, not even The Gods can undo the curse of The Furies."_

In the end, knowing that the visions of his past would never leave him, Kratos made his way to the bluffs overlooking the Aegean Sea. Pyrrha watched in concern as the Ghost of Sparta stood at the edge of the cliff and looked up towards the heavens. "Kratos," she said, "are you…"

 **"THE GODS OF OLYMPUS HAVE ABANDONED ME, PYRRHA,"** he sadly said as he turned his gaze from the heavens and to the sea below. His mind was made up; in order for the nightmares to end… he would have to die. He lifted one foot in front of him towards the edge and said, **"NOW THERE IS NO HOPE."**

Pyrrha rushed towards the Spartan and grabbed him before he could complete the deed; she pulled him away from the edge and turned him around to face her, "You're wrong Kratos, there is always hope. The Gods may not have taken away your nightmares, but they forgave you of your sins. You can live a new life with a clean slate."

Kratos gently removed Pyrrha's hands from his shoulders as he said, **"CHILD… EVEN WITH THE FORGIVENESS OF THE GODS, THE MEMORIES OF WHAT I DID WILL HAUNT ME FOR THE REST OF MY DAYS. THEY HAVE HAUNTED ME FOR TEN YEARS AND HAVEN'T GONE AWAY. IF I'M TO FIND PEACE… I HAVE TO DO THIS."** Pyrrha shook her head and pleaded with Kratos not to go through with it, only for Kratos to respond, **"PYRRHA… THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING."** He took Pyrrha's hand and shook it for the last time and walked towards the cliff once again.

Before he walked off the edge, Pyrrha called out to him. "Kratos," the Spartan turned his head to face her, "I'm so sorry it ended like this."

 **"SO AM I."** And Kratos cast himself from the highest mountain in all of Greece. After ten years of suffering, ten years of endless nightmares, it would finally come to an end. Death would be his escape from madness.

The fate of Kratos was not as it seemed. The Gods had other plans. Born aloft like a feather, Kratos found himself risen from the sea and placed on solid earth. In front of him stood a glowing statue of Athena, and Pyrrha running to the side of the statue with a look on confusion on her face. _"You will not die this day, Kratos."_ The statue of Athena spoke, _"The Gods cannot allow one who has performed such service to perish at his own hand. Ares' tactics were brutal, his path of destruction had to be stopped… but now there is an empty throne in Olympus and a new God of War is needed. Take these stairs, Kratos. They lead to your ultimate reward."_

As Athena spoke, Pyrrha bore witness to another event transpiring before her: Kratos' wounds on his wrists where the Blades of Chaos used to reside were healed. As soon as they were healed, a cloth appeared around his wrists and was covered with chains that were attached to a new set of chain blades that resembled his former weapon but were at the same time different. For these weapons glowed a heavenly gold and blue and the blade underneath the end possessed a sharpened edge to allow a deeper grip into whoever was unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of it. These new weapons were known as the Blades of Athena.

 **"A GOD OF OLYMPUS…"** he thought to himself as he made his way up the stairs and through the newly opened Hyperion Gate. Before he stepped through the gate, he looked back at Pyrrha who bowed her head in respect of the newly appointed God of War, and Kratos bowed back in respect for the child who had proven herself more than worthy to be called an ally. He turned around and walked through the gate and found himself in front of a giant golden staircase. He walked slowly up the steps and marveled at the majestic building he was heading towards.

* * *

While this was happening, back on Earth, Pyrrha conversed with Athena. "Kratos as the new God of War… are you sure about this, Athena?"

 _"It is the least we could do for all he's been through, he deserves a great reward… although, Lord Hades would probably argue against it._ "

"So what's to become of me now that Ares is dead?"

 _"The Gods have kept a close eye on you ever since you stepped foot in Athens, Pyrrha. To say that they were impressed with your skill in battle, your intelligence, and how you showed no fear while fighting Ares would be an understatement. After much deliberation, they decided that with Kratos as the new God of War… you shall become Olympus' new Champion."_

"Me? The Champion of the Gods? What will that entail?"

 _"There will be occasions when the Gods will ask you to undertake tasks to help benefit mankind: saving villages attacked by dangerous and rabid animals, assisting cities in fending off invading armies, and, from time to time, delivering personal messages to people such as Kings and Oracles."_

"I honestly don't know what to say…"

 _"Yes you do, for we both know that you cannot return home."_

Pyrrha almost took offense at what Athena said, but she knew it was true. She closed her eyes to think about everything that had transpired and everything that she had learned while helping Kratos. She thought of Cronos' punishment to carry Pandora's Temple across his back, the first mortal who failed to complete the temple, and there was something else in the back of her mind that was bothering her but couldn't say to Athena. She opened her eyes and faced the goddess with determination, "Before I agree, I have a few questions that need to be answered."

 _"Of course, and they will. For I did promise you that I'd explain everything when this was all over."_ The statue whistled, and after a few brief moments of silence, the Pegasus flew above the cliff, circled above them, and landed next to Pyrrha. Athena spoke once more as the Huntress got on the flying horse, _"Meet me at Khronos' temple, I will explain everything there."_

* * *

Kratos walked through the giant bronze doors that opened in front of him; once he was inside, the doors closed behind him. The throne room, which once belonged to Ares, possessed reflective tiles that decorated the floor, a golden chandelier that hanged from the ceiling, concrete torches embedded into the wall, and eighteen gray colored columns that stretched from the hallway and around the throne where two statues on elevated platforms stood in front of the throne. On the left stood a statue of the defeated giant Minotaur from Pandora's Temple, and on the right stood a statue of Ares. A satin cloth draped half of the throne itself, and a Dipylon-style shield decorated the top. Behind the throne stood a head of the Hydra that Kratos had slain before undertaking his final task. He walked up the stairs to his new throne, placed his hand on its arm, stared at the Hydra's head, and slumped down into his new position. From that point forward, throughout the rest of time, whenever men road forth to battle for good cause or for evil, they did so under the watchful eye of the man who had defeated a god. They were driven forward by Kratos, the mortal who had become the new God of War...

* * *

 **Author's Note: There will be an epilogue to officially close this story.**


	23. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: I do not own "God of War" or "RWBY"; "God of War" belongs to Santa Monica Studios, while "RWBY" belongs to "RoosterTeeth".**

Khronos and Bubo watched through the god's mirror in disgust at the events that took place in Hephaestus' forge: the Smith God, feeling that Kratos and Pyrrha had retrieved and unleashed the content of Pandora's Box, and that Ares was dead, became consumed with fear. He urged his daughter to find a place to hide. Just as she did, the giant metal doors of his forge were sent flying through the place he called home. One door flew into his furnace and completely destroyed it, causing rocks to fly everywhere and fire to roar unguarded; and another was sent into the wall of shields, causing weapons to fall to the ground. When the dust settled, a powerful figure walked through the dust and began to grow in size to match the size of the God of Blacksmiths; this being wore an all white and gold toga that revealed his muscular arms and legs, he wore golden bracelets that covered his entire forearms, and his long white beard and hair were as white as his pale eyes. This being was Zeus, the King of Olympus… and he was angry.

 _ **"Hephaestus!"**_ the king of the gods shouted.

"Father? I…" Hephaestus was unable to say a word as he felt Zeus' fists connect with his face.

 ** _"You LIED to me, my 'son'! Did you not say that appointing Pathos Verdes III to build a temple on Cronos' back was the BEST place to hide Pandora's Box?"_** Zeus was consumed with anger as he laid waste to his defenseless son; blood spilled out of Hephaestus' mouth, a tooth went flying, and his face bruised with each punch from the King of the Gods. _**"I demand to know what you're hiding from me, my 'son'! Otherwise…"**_

"Stop! Please, stop… I'll tell you…" Hephaestus said, begging his father to relent in his punishment.

 _ **"Speak! While you still can!"**_

Khronos closed his eyes in shame as Hephaestus revealed everything about Pandora to his father, turned his head away from his mirror as Zeus took the child from him, and shed a single tear as Zeus sent his son hurling down to the Underworld; punishing him for his 'betrayal'.

Before Zeus left his son to his new prison, he turned around and demanded his son to answer one more question, _**"What do you know of the child named Pyrrha Nikos?"**_

"Only that she came to me asking to build her a weapon to replace her old one, that's all I know, I swear! Please… don't take Pandora away from me."

Zeus turned around without speaking a word and ignored Hephaestus' cries for forgiveness.

"So Zeus," the Khronos said to himself as he turned back towards the mirror, "it has officially begun." Suddenly, he heard a knocking on his temple door, "I wonder who that could be… he says sarcastically." He waved his hand over his mirror and made the image of current events disappear. He walked over to the door to open it, and saw two women standing in front of it, "Pyrrha Nikos and Athena, just as I thought."

"Hello Mr. Khronos, it is good to see you again."

"It is good to see you too, Ms. Nikos."

 _"Hello Khronos,"_ Athena greeted the old god, then turned to see her pet on his shoulder and rubbed its feathered head, _"hello my beloved Bubo. I trust you are taking good care of him, Khronos."_

"You have no reason to fear, Athena. As promised, I'm taking good care of this fine owl."

"Am I missing something?" The young huntress asked.

 _"Nothing you need to concern yourself over, Pyrrha."_

"Yes, nothing at all. Besides, that's not the real reason why you're here…" he said as he moved out of the doorway to allow the two women into his temple, "You seek answers, do you not Ms. Nikos?"

"Yes sir… I do. Only three though, if it's not too much of a bother."

The old god smiled at her humble nature as he said, "It's never a bother, my dear." He looked up to Athena and said, "You need not concern yourself, Athena. I have everything handled. You do not have to stay here."

 _"With all due respect, Khronos, her questions are addressed to me."_

"Yes, they are. But we both know that only I possess the ability to show her the events that answer her questions."

"It's alright, Athena. Thank you for your willingness, it means a lot."

 _"Are you sure about this, Pyrrha?"_

"Yes. Thank you." She bowed her head towards the goddess, with the woman doing the same before exiting the temple.

Khronos made his way to his mirror just as the door to his temple closed behind the goddess and spoke, "Come this way, young Huntress. Through this mirror I will show you past events that shall answer whatever query you might have."

"Khronos… what did Cronos do to deserve his punishment?"

"Ah, that old tale," the old god said as he waved his hand over his mirror. The events he described played out as he spoke, "Over a thousand years ago, before the rule of the Gods, the Titans reigned supreme over mankind with Cronos as their king. One day, he heard from an oracle that he would be overthrown by one of his children; fearing the prophecy, whenever his wife Rhea bore him a child, Cronos would devour it whole."

"What?" Pyrrha said shocked at the events that played out before her.

"As crazy as it sounds, it's true… and you thought the stories of your time were a bit outlandish. Anyways, Rhea bore Cronos six children in total… but the Titan only consumed five. When the final child was born, Rhea commanded an eagle to hide her infant far away from the eyes of Cronos. She ultimately disguised a rock as their child, and Cronos consumed it just like he did with the previous children. The eagle, at the request of Rhea, flew the child to the benevolent Titan Gaia, the ever-present Mother of Earth. She raised and nurtured the young god and helped him develop his powers. That child was Zeus, the current King of Olympus. When Zeus came of age, Gaia informed the young god what had happened to his siblings and was determined to free them. Zeus was consumed with a 'sense of justice' and pure hatred towards his father and ultimately waged war on all the Titans because of the sins of his father. He recruited my help, as well as a defecting Titan by the name of Prometheus, freed his siblings by slicing open his father's stomach, and began the Great War. The battle between the Gods and the Titans forged the landscape of the mortal realm itself. In the end, the Gods prevailed when Zeus constructed a weapon of ultimate power, a weapon that was forged from the Heavens and the Earth itself: The Blade of Olympus. With one stab from the blade, Zeus banished the Titans to the darkest pits of Tartarus. Many years would pass before Zeus and Hephaestus commanded Pathos Verdes III to construct Pandora's Temple, and unfortunately for Cronos… his name was the first to come to Zeus' mind as punishment."

"Wow, just… wow…"

"Had I not been there myself, I would have been just as speechless as you." The image faded and the mirror went blank as Khronos said, "Now then, your second question?"

Pyrrha shook her head out of the trance she found herself in, cleared her voice and asked the old god her next question, "Khronos, why did the Gods of Olympus punish that soldier for failing Pandora's Temple?"

"Oh, that poor soul…" With a wave of his hand, Khronos revealed an image of a man with short, black hair with tan skin, a lean physique, and brown eyes, "His name used to be Próta. He was an arrogant, narcissistic, and egotistical man who thought the world revolved around him and believed that he could do just about anything. When he received word of the challenge that was Pandora's Temple, he undertook the daunting construction without hesitation. Greek tradition states that a mortal must make a sacrifice to the Gods before undertaking an incredible act so the Gods would grant a blessing on the soldier to help them on their journey; in his arrogance, Próta refused to do so and even dared to disrespect them by urinating in Zeus' temple."

"Ew…" Pyrrha remarked.

"Zeus was far from happy about that act, and didn't help the young soldier when he met his end in the very first room of Pandora's Temple. When his soul stood in front of Hades, Zeus was there as well; and the two Gods decided that instead of his soul being tortured in the Underworld, he would remain alive on Earth… but only as a living corpse, and forever trapped at the entrance of Pandora's Temple. His eternal task was to burn the bodies of the fallen warriors that came after him until the temple was finally beaten."

"So it was his own fault?"

"Yes, although, as you saw and heard for yourself when you met him, he doesn't see it that way."

Pyrrha hesitated a bit as she took in the story that Khronos showed her and was about to leave his temple… but she knew she couldn't because there was one question clawing at the back of her mind. A question that she would never have thought to ask had it not been for her latest venture with the Ghost of Sparta… she needed to know. "Khronos," she finally said, "Can I trust the Gods of Olympus?"

Khronos grinned at this query that the Huntress brought to him, "Now I understand why you didn't want Athena in here. I'm actually surprised that you would ask that question to me… a God. Are you not afraid that I'ld punish you for your insolence, or maybe even report this to Zeus himself?"

"I would be… if you were on good terms with Zeus," the Huntress responded, not backing down from the ancient god.

"Oh?" He said intrigued at this statement, "And what makes you think that I'm not?"

"I noticed it when you and Athena first brought me here: whenever you spoke of Zeus, you had an annoyed tone in your voice. You had it again when you were telling me Cronos's story. I also noticed how you rolled your eyes when you first started talking about him, and how you purposefully antagonized Athena on a few occasions. At first I didn't know why you would do these things, but then you mentioned how your powers were given a restriction by Zeus himself; you hate him for placing that restriction on you, don't you?"

"You always were an intelligent Huntress, Pyrrha Nikos," the old god said as he applauded the young woman. "It is times like this that I'm reminded how it was that you proved yourself capable of graduating at the top of your class, and how you were hailed by many of your peers. However," he said as he turned his back to the Huntress and gently rubbed his abdominal muscles, "you merely scratched the surface of that old wound… and that's a tale for a different time." He straightened his posture, turned around to face the Huntress and said in a more serious tone, "But to answer your original question… no. The Gods of Olympus are not to be trusted."

"Thank you for your wisdom, Mr. Khronos." The young Huntress said as she bowed to the ancient god, "I will keep this in mind as I carry out my duties as the new Champion of Olympus."

She turned around and walked to the doors of the temple; right before she touched the stone door, Khronos called out to her, "Pyrrha." The crimson-haired Huntress turned towards the god as he spoke once more, "In a few years, you will accompany Kratos on a mission. During that mission, you will see things which in words would be… incredible. Then, and only then, will you be ready to know more."

Pyrrha nodded her head as if to say, "deal" to the old god, walked through the doors and left his island via the Pegasus.

When Pyrrha left Khronos' island, the old god felt an invisible presence inside his temple; he smirked as he addressed it, "Did I not tell you that the girl was more than capable?"

 **"Indeed you did, Khronos,"** replied an ancient female voice, **"But why didn't you tell her of Olympus' sins?"**

"For three reasons, my old friend: the first being because some things are better believed when they are experienced first hand instead of by word of mouth… as you saw from her reaction of Chronos' story. The second reason is because she is extremely grateful towards the Gods for both reviving her from the dead, and for giving her a new purpose in life… a purpose that is reminiscent to the one she had before being pulled to this era. Because of that, she's giving them the benefit of a doubt… for now. Finally, because of this: one often meets their destiny on the road they take to avoid it. If I were to show her what the Gods have done to mankind before she's ready, she would be ill prepared for the coming battle. Besides…" the old God continued as the image in his mirror changed to reveal two different people: one elderly woman wrapped in brown cloth lying down and seemingly on her deathbed, and a muscular, full-faced bearded man with combed back short black hair, a glowing red-orange mark across his body and face in the same formation as Kratos' tattoo, two deep scratch marks on the right side of his forehead, and completely blind in his left eye while his right was the same color as Kratos. After pulling these images of the two beings into his mirror, the old god spoke once again, "Once she sees for herself what the Gods have done to Kratos' mother and to his long thought to have been dead brother, she will turn her back on Olympus and will be ready to know the truth. As for Kratos, it won't take much to recruit him; once he sees what Olympus has taken from him, he will forever hate the Gods… and nothing will be able to stop him. When the time is right, and believe me when I say that you'll KNOW when to approach him, you and the Titans will recruit him to fight against Olympus. When that time comes, I'll send Pyrrha to assist him to fight by his side and against the traitorous Gods."

 **"Yes, Khronos. For the time being, I'll inform Thera and the others that the Ghost of Sparta and his apprentice bring freedom. It is comforting to know that everything is still going according to plan, despite having a new warrior on the battlefield.**

Khronos felt the ancient being's presence disappear, just as another image came into his mirror. He said somberly to himself, "Yes Gaia… everything's going according to plan." In the mirror was an image of an enraged Zeus holding the Blade of Olympus tightly in his hand, and standing above the rubble of a destroyed temple as he said, _**"I should have killed you a long time ago, Khronos!"**_

* * *

 **Author's Note: And like that, it is done... after a year-and-a-half... it's done. I would love to continue this series, but because of RoosterTeeth's recent actions towards not only Vic Mignogna, but how some of their voice actors have been behaving towards people lately, how they pander to SJW's and NPC's, and how they focus more on their ships more than they do on the story itself, reading Shane's Letters and comparing what is currently happening and what he wrote... I simply cannot do it anymore. For if I were to continue this story, I would be supporting RoosterTeeth, which is something that I no longer do.  
** **Another reason, and this is quite important, I'm working out again and am getting back into shape. I'm in the best shape of my life right now and I feel good about it. Finally... (shameless plug)I got cast in a certain play called "** **Les Misérables" and have been dedicating my time to that show. If anyone wants to see it, the show takes place in August, and it will be at the Lifehouse Theatre in Redlands, California.  
** **Don't think of this as 'goodbye', but more along the lines of 'see you next time.' It might be a long while until the next story that I release, whatever it may be, but mark my words when I say that there will be a next time. Until then, thank you all for supporting this story, for liking it, for your reviews, for your critiques, and motivating me to continue. Until next time.**

 **Ladies and Gentlemen: a new author has been found to take over the series; a person by the name of tjblalack1. I don't know when they'll be able to release the new chapter, but these things take time to do so be please be patient with them. Again, thank you all for everything.**


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